Valleys new Torchbearers

The uprising has not only exposed the fautlines within the hardliners,it has also pushed the moderate leadership of the Hurriyat Conference,especially its head Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik,to the sidelines.

ENTER MASARAT ALAM

When the current protests intensified,Geelani was in prison. He was arrested on June 13 two days after 17-year-old Tufail Ahmad Matoo was killed after a plastic pellet fired by the police hit him in the head. One of the younger leaders,39-year-old Masarat Alam,a militant commander-turned-separatist politician,had just been released from prison (June 8) on bail after 21 months in custody.

Alam was accused of breaking the Hurriyat Conference when they were engaged in back-channel talks with the Centre in 2004,and of trying to unite the Hurriyat during the 2008 land row agitation when the Hurriyat was riven by infighting. In both cases,the dossier accused him of acting against the national interest.

In the absence of Geelani,Alam the acting general secretary of the hardline Hurriyat,but not from a Jamaat background took control of the protests. Most top leaders of the moderate camp remained silent.

Mirwaiz Farooq jumped on to the protest bandwagon and gave a call for a march to Sopore on June 29,but within hours,it became clear that the moderates did not have any street presence. The slogans were clearly in favour of Geelani.

THE FAKTU FACTOR

After the police failed to halt the protests that had now turned into a mass movement,they began a crackdown inside Srinagars Central Jail. The target: Ashiq Hussain Faktu alias Mohammad Qasim,a former militant commander serving a life sentence since 1993 for his role in the murder of trade union leader H N Wanchoo.

Faktu was quietly moved to the Joint Interrogation Centre in Humhama in the city. The reason,police say,was that in the Central Jail,Faktu had access to the Internet and a cell phone. The shift to Humhama,they say,was intended to sever his contact with the people.

The police believe Faktu belongs to a rare class of separatists who have an unflinching Islamist ideology and exceptional motivational skills. After his Bachelors in Commerce in 1987,Faktu was introduced to militancy by top Hizbul commander Mohammad Abdullah Bangroo.

The Hizb split when one of its top commanders,Nasir-ul-Islam,refused to agree to declare the outfit an armed wing of Jamat-e-Islami. Nasir formed the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen,and instead declared it the armed wing of Islam. Faktu joined him. This ideological disagreement continues till now.

In October 1990,Faktu married Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Aasiya Andrabi. In 1993,Faktu was arrested with his wife and their child.

While Andrabi and the child were released after 13 months,Faktu was booked under PSA. In March 1999,Faktu was released on bail,and became the first militant leader to float the idea of an indigenous separatist movement independent of Pakistan.

On July 14,2001 the TADA court in Jammu acquitted him,and he was even allowed to travel abroad. Faktu visited Saudi Arabia and London to attend conferences. An ardent pan-Islamist who was ideologically committed to Kashmirs secession from India,Faktu was re-arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport,New Delhi,on his return from London in 2002. He was later sentenced by Supreme Court. Faktu,who completed a PhD in Islamic Studies in prison and has authored a few books,heads the Muslim Dini Mahaz a religio-political party. According to the police,Alam and Faktu met in jail recently.

SHIFTING SANDS

When Geelani was released on August 5,he exhibited his authority over the protests. Going against the popular tide,he asked the protesters to refrain from stone-throwing and insisted on peaceful protests.

There was no mistaking the impact of Geelanis call when thousands peacefully joined the funeral procession of 19-year-old Iqbal Ahmad Khan,who had succumbed to injuries in the citys Chanpora locality. Geelani addressed this peaceful gathering.

Barely an hour later,the CRPF opened fire at protesters in the citys Bemina area,killing one person. Subsequently,protests erupted across the city again. Alam continued to chalk out the protest programme,but Geelani intervened to make changes.

QUESTION OF SUCCESSION

Though the debate over Geelanis successor hasnt surfaced in the public domain in Kashmir yet,Aasiya Andrabi brought it up last year,suggesting that Geelani should become the spiritual leader of the movement and nominate a successor. She put forth the names of Ashraf Sehrayi,Mian Abdul Qayoom,Shakeel Bakshi,Masarat Alam and her husband Faktu as possible candidates.

With Geelanis failing health,however,the hardline faction of the Hurriyat has witnessed a subtle divide between the Jamaat and the non-Jamaat leadership. Geelanis longtime colleague,Ashraf Sehrayi,was seen as his natural successor,but Sehrayis age and ill-health go against him.

The other top contender is Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin,or Mohammad Yousuf Shah, a longtime Jamaat leader who joined militancy in the early 90s and replaced Ahsan Dar at the head of the Hizb. Born in 1946 in central Kashmirs Soibugh village,Salahuddin studied political science at Kashmir University,where he joined the Jamaat and became its Srinagar district president. He delivered Friday sermons at a mosque outside the civil secretariat,and had a large following.

In 1987,Salahuddin contested the Assembly elections from Amirakadal constituency in Srinagar as a Muslim United Front candidate. The elections were rigged. Salahuddin was arrested and jailed for two years. On his release,he joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.

In 1991,Salahuddin crossed the Line of Control for the first time,but returned soon. In 1993,he went across again,and has not returned since. Currently,he heads the amalgam of militant outfits,the United Jihad Council. Though Salahudin is a top contender,it remains to be seen whether he will be able to make the transition from militancy to politics.

The name of advocate Mian Qayoom too has been making the rounds. Qayoom too has had a long association with the Jamaat. The son of a teacher,Qayoom was born in 1948. He studied law in Jammu University and joined the Bar in 1973.

In 1987,Qayoom became the president of the High Court Bar. In 1991,he was jailed for a year. In 1995,he had a narrow escape after being fired upon by unidentified gunmen. Qayoom was chosen to head a separatist political amalgam in the early 90s,which later became the Hurriyat.

Some recent incidents have exposed the faultlines within the hardline camp. Ahead of Geelanis release,both the Jamaat and Salahuddin issued statements questioning the continuation of strikes that inconvenienced people. Salahuddins statement provoked a huge backlash his effigies were burnt,and an anonymous letter released to the media here even asked him to refrain from meddling since he was in Pakistan and had no idea of the ground situation. The police believe this was a rebuff from within the hardline camp.

THE PAN-ISLAMIST SHIFT

Efforts have been made to take the leadership of the hardline camp away from Geelanis politics and introduce a pan-Islamist ideology in the separatist movement. Though an Islamist leader,Geelani has always focused his politics on the demand for the right of self determination.

Despite being pro-Pakistan,Geelani has consistently put forth a discourse that makes Kashmir a dispute among three main parties Kashmir,India and Pakistan and seeks UN intervention for its resolution. The pan-Islamists,however,are even against the Pakistani establishment,and look at the establishment of sharia rule in Pakistan as an essential aim of their movement.

Meanwhile,the Jamaat-e-Islami is closely watching the situation as it unfolds. Like in Pakistan,the Jamaat in Kashmir is seen as a moderate outfit within the Islamic parties for their insistence on the right of self-determination.