Cleric who termed stone-pelting protests un-Islamic killed in Srinagar blast

The last militant killing in the area had taken place in August 2009 when a CRPF jawan died in an attack.

A vocal opponent of violence,Shah,who had termed last year’s stonepelting protests as un-Islamic,was declared brought dead in a hospital,police said.

Shah had earlier met one of the interlocutors and discussed with him a possible road map for bringing peace in the Valley. He was among the first who had demanded a fresh enquiry into the killings of separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Farooq,Abdul Gani Lone and Qazi Nissar.

Following his statement,Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat and Sajjad Lone had openly said that these leaders had been killed by “our own men”.

Separatist and political leaders condemned the killing with the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference calling for shutdown tomorrow while its hardline faction termed it as an “act of terrorism.”

Moderate Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq said in a statement that Shah always chose to tread the path of righteousness.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the “senseless” killing and asked the people to maintain calm while main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti said it is “another painful addition to the larger Kashmir” saga.

Dileep Padgaonkar,heading the central interlocutors’ team,said,”This is a reprehensible act and it runs counter to the Kashmiri tradition of tolerance of all faiths and opinions.”

Shah was also actively involved in separatist politics and was close to JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and moderate Hurriyat Chairman Farooq.

Militants had earlier fired at his car in 2006 and hurled a grenade at his house in Lal Bazar in outskirts of city in 2008.

Shah,criticised by hardliners who had supported stone pelting protests,had challenged the perpetrators of violence to cite even one sermon from Islamic religious texts which supports such acts.

Known for advocating puritanical Islam,Shah had issued a fatwa against such violent protests.

Shah was a tech-savvy individual with a public figure page on social networking site Facebook where many threatening messages were also posted by his opponents.

He came under fire from hardliner Syed Ahmed Shah Geelani soon after he issued fatwa against stone pelting protests which left over 115 people dead last year.