The Hindu : Front Page : Six hardline Hurriyat leaders arrested

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Friday, Apr 27, 2007
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Six hardline Hurriyat leaders arrested

Special Correspondent

Police say they indulged in unlawful activities

— PHOTO: Nissar Ahmed

A Hurriyat leader shouts slogans as he is detained during a press conference in Srinagar on Thursday. — PHOTO: Nissar Ahmed

SRINAGAR: The police on Thursday arrested six leaders of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference when they were about to address a press conference here and give a call for protest against the alleged demolition of a mosque inside the Hariparbhat fort. Hurriyat sources claimed that two of them were booked under the Public Safety Act.

As senior leaders of the Hurriyat — Ghulam Nabi Sumji, Massarat Alam Bhat, Firdous Ahmad Shah — and others arrived at a hotel around 12.30 p.m., the police swooped on the hotel and whisked them away. The leaders tried to resist the police and raised pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

"This (police action) has exposed the Indian democracy and there is complete suppression as far as the freedom of expression is concerned," one of the leaders shouted. They were taken to the police station at Kothibagh.

A police spokesman said that they were arrested in connection with a case registered in the Safa Kadal police station against them. The case was registered on Sunday when Syed Ali Shah Geelani addressed a public rally in which, according to the police, anti-India slogans were raised. "They had indulged in unlawful activities under Section 13," he said.

Hours after their arrest, another senior Hurriyat leader, Ashraf Sehrai and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi addressed a hurriedly convened news conference at Mr. Geelani's residence and said that the arrested leaders were supposed to give a protest call against the "demolition of a mosque inside the Hariparbhat fort."

The Mughal period fort was recently thrown open to the public. Both Mr. Sehrai and Ms. Andrabi lashed out at the Government and asked people to stage protest demonstrations after Friday prayers.

"We do not want the Government to reconstruct it (the mosque) but the people of Kashmir will do it," said Ms. Andrabi. Mr. Sehrai condemned the arrest of the Hurriyat leaders and claimed that the Public Safety Act had been slapped on two arrested leaders, Sumji and Massarat Alam. The police were tight-lipped on the issue of arrest.

`Mosque not damaged'

The Director, Archives, K.A. Qadri, denied that the mosque was damaged. "The restoration process of the fort is still on and only 15 per cent work has been done and the mosque is also being redone," he told The Hindu .

He said that the mosque was dilapidated with the passage of time and "we had no access to the fort as it was under security forces."

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