Kerala - Alappuzha   

Permission denied for Geelani’s meeting

ALAPPUZHA: A public meeting on human rights which was to be addressed by Delhi University lecturer Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani here on Friday was denied permission by the police.

The meeting, organised by the Muslim Ekopana Samithi, a recently formed forum of Muslim organisations and mahal committees, was to discuss issues including religious terrorism, media discrimination and human rights violations. Mr. Geelani was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case.

Though the Samithi had submitted an application to the police a week ago, asking for permission to organise the meeting at the Municipal Grounds and to conduct a rally from the Bhattathiri Purayidom to the venue, the police informed the organisers on Thursday that permission could not be granted.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police T.P. Dileep, permission was denied in the background of the Mumbai terror attack and because the police “did not want to take any chances of any untoward incidents.”

The police action evoked strong resent from the organisers and from Mr. Geelani himself, who said the police were citing flimsy grounds to deny permission.

“This is against the basic spirit of democracy. You have to allow people to express their views and opinions, even if those opinions might be different from those of the people in power,” he said.

Mr. Geelani, who did not rule out ‘political pressure’ behind the police action, however said he would not rake up an issue by complaining to the State government. The Samithi later conducted a meeting, on a much smaller scale than planned, inside a private conference hall.

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