Hardliner Geelani swept away

Confirming the decision, Jamat Islami chief G.M. Bhat said they recalled Geelani because he was keeping ill after undergoing an operation recently. ‘‘Because he could not attend the Hurriyat meetings, we decided to thrust the responsibilities to Mohammad,’’ he said, adding he consulted Geelani before taking the decision.

Admitting he was aware of the developments, Hurriyat chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said that he had received a letter from the Jamat chief asking for Geelani’s replacement. Asked whether Jamat chief discussed the matter with him, Bhat shot back saying ‘‘it is purely a Jamat decision’’. ‘‘I am not in it,’’ he told The Indian Express.

Geelani, who is considered a hawk on Kashmir, has termed the move as ‘‘unfortunate’’. He argued the decision must have stemmed because he wanted the Jamat and Hurriyat to clear their position on People’s Conference (PC), another executive constituent in the amalgam, on fielding proxy candidates in last October’s state Assembly elections. ‘‘I wrote to the Jamat chief and, even during my discussions with Bhat and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik, asked that PC’s fielding of proxy candidates were not according to the policy of Hurriyat Conference,’’ he said.

Kashmir observers say the decision to recall Geelani from the amalgam executive would consolidate the position of the moderates in the conglomerate. With Sheikh Abdul Aziz of People’s League, an executive member and a hawk, already in jail and Geelani being sidelined, the Hurriyat complexion has changed from being hawkish to a moderate one.