The Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday booked Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, on charges of fuelling violence and making “a highly inflammatory and anti-national” speech at an Id congregation here on Saturday.
The Mirwaiz could face the death sentence or life imprisonment if prosecutors follow through with formal charges and he is convicted. The police has also brought similar cases against five other activists, including Massarat Aalam Butt, a close associate of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
“Such oppressive tactics have been in use for the past 20 years and can’t deter me, my party workers or the people from pursuing their just cause. Instead it strengthens our resolve further,” the Mirwaiz said.
Four FIRs have been lodged against five separatist activists; three of these against the Mirwaiz and his close associates, for Saturday’s arson. The authorities have also sought to get moving an old case in which the Mirwaiz has been shown by the police as an accused for helping an alleged hawala kingpin, Nasir Shaffi Mir, and some militant outfits flee the country after paying for a forged Indian passport from a southern state.