All Parties Hurriyat Conference | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (Mirwaiz faction) Masarat Alam Bhat (Geelani faction; interim) [1] |
Founders | Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Syed Ali Shah Geelani Sheikh Abdul Aziz Mohammad Abbas Ansari Abdul Gani Lone Yasin Malik Abdul Ghani Bhat |
Founded | 31 July 1993 |
Headquarters | Srinagar |
Ideology | Kashmiri separatism [2] Self-determination [3] Islamism [4] [5] [6] |
Political position | Big tent [7] [8] |
Colors | Green |
Website | |
www | |
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed on 9 March 1993, as a united political front to raise the cause of Kashmiri independence in the Kashmir conflict. Mehmood Ahmed Saghar was the first convener of the APHC-PAK chapter when the alliance was established in 1993. [9] The alliance has historically been viewed positively by Pakistan as it contests the claim of the Indian government over the State of Jammu and Kashmir. [10] [11] [12] The organisation is split into two main factions, those being the Mirwaiz and Geelani factions. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is the founder and chairman of Mirwaiz faction and Masarat Alam Bhat is the interim chairman of Geelani faction, who succeeded Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the founder of the faction after his death. [13] [14]
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference was founded on 31 July 1993. [15] On 27 December 1992, the 19-year-old Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had taken over as chairman of J&K Awami Action Committee (J&KAAC) and become the head priest of Kashmir after the assassination of his father Mirwaiz Farooq, called a meeting of religious, social and political organisations at Mirwaiz Manzil leading to the creation of the formation the following year. [15]
The APHC executive council had seven members from seven executive parties: Syed Ali Shah Geelani of Jamat-e-Islami, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of Awami Action Committee, Sheikh Abdul Aziz of People’s League, Moulvi Mohammad Abbas Ansari of Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat of Muslim Conference, Yasin Malik of JKLF, and Abdul Gani Lone of People’s Conference.
Now, the leadership of the some executive parties have changed with time like Mukhtar Ahmed Waza of people's league, Masroor Abbas Ansari of Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen and Bilal Ghani lone of people's conference.
According to the Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and India's control of it is not justified. It supports the Pakistani claim that Kashmir is the "unfinished agenda of Partition" and needs to be solved "as per the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir." [16]
The APHC perceives itself to be the sole representative of the Kashmiri people. [16]
The organisation's primary role has been to project an image of counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and to mobilise public opinion against Indian security forces. The alliance has consistently followed up local allegations of security force excesses, and in several documented cases, real allegations about human violation by Indian security forces. For instance, the Haigam firing incident of 16 February 2001, was an assault on a peaceful gathering whereas, but later claimed in news reports and official clarifications, the army contingent fired upon the mob only when they were blocked and prevented from moving. [16]
The APHC has also an observer's status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). OIC has invited Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for its June 2005 Foreign Ministers Conference in Yemen. [16] [17]
There are currently two factions of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The Mirwaiz-led group, also referred to as the "moderate faction" along with non-Hurriyat leaders like Yasin Malik undertook, between 2–16 June 2005, the first formal visit of Kashmiri separatists to Pakistani Kashmir and subsequently, though unsanctioned by Indian authorities, to Pakistan. [16]
Internal fissures within the Hurriyat Conference culminated in a formal split on 7 September 2003, [18] with at least 12 of its 26 constituents "removing" the then Chairman Maulana Mohammad Abbas Ansari "replacing" him with Masarat Alam as its interim chief. The dissenters reportedly met at the residence of hardliner and pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and decided to depose Ansari and "suspend" the seven-member executive committee, the highest decision-making forum of the APHC. A five-member committee was formed to review the Hurriyat Constitution and suggest amendments to reverse what the dissenters perceived as "autocratic" decisions taken by the executive committee. [16]
Following this, Geelani formed his own faction of the Hurriyat called All Party Hurriyat Conference (G) and took over its leadership in 2003. He was later appointed as its lifetime chairman. [19] [20] It consists of 24 parties. In 2004 he founded his own party named Tehreek-e-Hurriyat due to differences with the Jamaat-e-Islami. [21] He was appointed as the party chairman in October 2004. [22]
The Hurriyat Conference again split in 2014. The moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq faced the split after four senior leaders raised a banner of revolt against the chairman and other members of the conglomerate. [23] Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Ahmad Shah, National Front chairman Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Mahaz-e-Azadi chief Mohammad Azam Inqlabi and Islamic Political Party Mohommad Yousuf Naqash were up in arms against Mirwaiz after he dashed off a letter to the convener in Pakistan administered Kashmir, Mohommad Yousuf Naseem, asking him not to entertain the leaders who have left the conglomerate on their own. The leader Shabir Shah and his lieutenant Nayeem Khan along with Shia leader Agha Hassan joined Hurriyat Conference (G) led by Syed Ali Geelani. [23]
All JKLF factions support the right to self-determination as per UN Security Council Resolution 47. Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Shabir Shah, Nayeem Khan & Azam Inquilabi, demand the right to self-determination as per UN Security Council Resolution 47. Members of the Executive Council of the original APHC were:
Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, a senior leader of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and son of Sheikh Abdullah criticised Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for working on "dictations" given by Pakistan. He accused Geelani of being "a double agent" on "the payroll of Pakistan's ISI". [24] [25] [26]
Kamal said "Geelani has tried to 'ignite and incite' people by 'hollow slogans and destructive emotionalism', whenever even a Pakistani clerk comes to India and summons this ex-lawmaker(Geelani), he rushes to Delhi to take dictation about how to ensure that uncertainty prevails in the state." [24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
Pakistan also openly supported Geelani and Hurriyat, and representatives have had several meetings with Hurriyat leaders. A three-member delegation from the Pakistan High Commission led by Abdul Basit met Geelani at his Malviya Nagar residence in March 2015. Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit assured Geelani of complete support conveying that the country's stand on Kashmir remains unchanged despite the regime change in New Delhi. [29] [30] [31] Basit also invited Geelani for a Pakistan Day function on 23 March. The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, ritually invites pro-separatist leadership of Jammu and Kashmir for the function every year. [28] [30] [31] [32]
Indian media vehicles reported that Geelani and Hurriyat are paying local unemployed young men to stage protests. [33] According to them, arrested participants confessed being paid Rs 400($6–7) every Friday. Police said the money is being raised locally by Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's followers. Most of the money comes from fruit markets and saw mills, Pakistan-based LeT terrorists also participate in stone peltings, [33] the police said. [33] [34] [35]
Geelani and Hurriyat appealed to the people of Kashmir to boycott the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections completely, arguing that: "India has been holding elections in the Valley using the power of gun and so such an exercise is not legitimate." [36] But despite repeated boycott appeals, the 2014 assembly election recorded record voter turnout of more than 65% which was the highest in 25 years of history and higher than normal voting percentages in other states of India. [37] [38] [39]
While voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir as a whole was high, it remained low in Kashmir, and in many thickly populated areas of Srinagar and Anantnag, it stayed considerably below the norm, reaching close to 20% in some of them. [40] This trend continued and became much worse during the 2019 Lok Sabha election in JK, where Srinagar and Anantnag recorded voter turnout of 15.6% and 9.7% each respectively. [41]
Member of the European Parliament Kosma Zlotowski welcomed the smooth conduct of the State Legislative Elections in the Jammu and Kashmir. [42] Zlotowski's office in its message said that: "The high voter turnout figure proves that democracy is firmly rooted in India. The EU would like to congratulate India and its democratic system for conduct of fair elections, unmarred by violence, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir [...] The European Parliament also takes cognizance of the fact that a large number of Kashmiri voters turned out despite calls for the boycott of elections by certain separatist forces." [42] [43] [44]
Current [ when? ] members All Parties Hurriyat Conference include: [ citation needed ]
Number | Name of the Party | Leader |
---|---|---|
1 | Aawami Action Committee | Mirwaiz Umar Farooq |
2 | People's League | |
3 | Anjamani Auqafi Jama Masjid | Mohammad Umar Farooq |
4 | Anjaman-e-Tablig-ul Islam | Syed Qasim Shah Bukhari |
5 | Ummat Islami | Qazi Ghulam Mohammad |
6 | Jammu & Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen | Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari |
7 | Anjuman e shari shiyan | Aga Syed Hassan al-moosvi Al-safvi |
8 | Jammu Kashmir National Front | Nayeem Ahmed Khan |
9 | All Jammu & Kashmir Employees' Confederation | Ishtiaq Qadri |
10 | Jamiate Ulama-E-Islam | Abdul Gani Azhari |
11 | Jamiat-e-Hamdania | Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Yaseen Hamdani |
12 | Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference | Abdul Ghani Lone till 2002 assassination |
13 | Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front | Muhammad Yasin Malik |
14 | Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party | Shabir Shah & Mehmood Ahmed Saghar |
15 | Jammu and Kashmir People's Basic Rights (Protection) Committee | Mufti Bahauddin Farouqi |
16 | Liberation Council | Azhar Bhat |
17 | Kashmir Bazme Tawheed | Tajamul Bhat |
18 | Kashmir Bar Association | Zaroon bhat |
19 | Muslim Khawateen Markaz | Zaid Bhat/ Anjum Zamarud Habib [45] |
20 | Muslim Conference | Khokhar e aazam |
21 | Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Kashmiri | Saqib Bhat |
22 | Jammu and Kashmir People's Independent Movement [46] | Bilal Ghani Lone |
23 | Peoples Political Party | Eng Hilal Ahmad War |
24 | Imam Ahmad Raza Islamic Mission | Rafeeq Ahmad Mir |
25 | Saut-Ul-Aliya | Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi |
26 | Jammu and Kashmir People's Freedom League | Muhammad Farooq Rehmani |
27 | Peoples Political Party Hilal Ahmed War And forazad jammu and kashmir n Pakistan chapter | Mian Muzaffar Shah |
28 | Dukhtaran-e-Millat | Asiya Andrabi |
29 | J & K Muslim League | Masarat Alam |
30 | Difa-e-Pakistan Council | Sami ul Haq |
31 | Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Committee | Noor-Ul-Hassan |
32 | Employees and Workers Confederation |
Hurriyat Conference has three factions: Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Hurriyat led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Hurriyat led by Shabir Shah, Azam Inquilabi & Nayeem Khan. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front is not part of these factions.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani was a Kashmiri separatist leader and politician in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Known for his pro-Pakistan stance, he was a key figure in the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of separatist groups. A former Indian intelligence officer referred to him as the 'father of the Kashmiri jihad.'
Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party is a separatist political party launched by Shabir Shah in May 1998. JKDFP called for tripartite negotiations between India, Pakistan and Kashmir.
Abdul Gani Lone was a Kashmiri-separatist political leader.
Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq is the 14th Mirwaiz of Kashmir. He is a Kashmiri separatist political leader. He is also an Islamic religious cleric of Kashmir Valley.
Tehreek-e-Hurriyat is a separatist political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India founded by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. It was founded on 7 August 2004 after Geelani quit his former party Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir. The Indian government on December 31, 2023 declared the party an ‘Unlawful Association’ under the anti-terror law- the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for a period of five years.
Mohammad Farooq Shah commonly known as Mirwaiz Moluvi Mohammad Farooq was the Mirwaiz of his time in Kashmir—north of India— and chairman of All Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee, a coalition of disparate political parties in Jammu and Kashmir that sought resolution of the Kashmir conflict.
On 26 May 2008, the government of India and the state Government of Jammu and Kashmir reached an agreement to transfer 99 acres (0.40 km2) of forest land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in the main Kashmir Valley to set up temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu pilgrims to Amarnath Temple. This caused a controversy, with demonstrations from the Kashmir valley against the land transfer and protests from the Jammu region supporting it. The largest demonstration saw more than 500,000 protesters at a single rally, among the largest in Kashmir's history.
Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held over seven days in November and December 2008. The previous government led by the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP) in coalition with the Indian National Congress (INC) collapsed when the PDP withdrew. Following the election, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) agreed on a coalition with Congress and their leader, Omar Abdullah became the state's youngest-ever Chief Minister at 38.
Mohammad Abbas Ansari was a separatist political leader and a well known Shia Muslim scholar, reformer, preacher and cleric from Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. He was known for his religious lectures and as a Kashmiri separatist, ex-chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, also founder and chairman of the Ittihadul Muslimeen also known as Jammu & Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM), a Kashmiri nationalist Shia separatist political party which aims for Shi'a–Sunni unity in Kashmir & independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India through peaceful struggle. He is considered a moderate and has called for an end to violence in that region. He is Succeeded by his son Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz was chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples League and a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of Kashmiri separatist groups at the forefront of the political struggle against democratic Indian government in Jammu and Kashmir. He was a strong advocate of the right to self-determination of Kashmiri people and believed that an independent plebiscite under UN supervision could bring long lasting peace in South-Asia.
Muzaffarabad chalo refers to a call that was given by a co-ordination committee on 11 August 2008 when the people of Jammu and Kashmir, India were appealed to march to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan, in retaliation to the economic blockade of the Kashmir valley sources following the Amarnath land transfer controversy. The Separatist leader, Mirwaiz, was put on house arrest by the Indian administration to prevent unrest in the valley.
The 2010 Kashmir unrest was a series of violent protests and riots in the Kashmir Division and Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions of Northern Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India which started in June 2010 after the Indian Army claimed to have killed three Pakistani infiltrators in which a soldier of the Territorial Army, a counter-insurgent and a former special police officer had found three young men from their Nadihal village in Baramulla district and killed them in a "staged" encounter at Sona Pindi. The protests occurred in a movement launched by Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2010, who called for the complete demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference made this call to a strike, citing human rights abuses by security forces. Rioters shouting pro-independence slogans, defied curfew, attacked riot police with stones and burnt vehicles and buildings. The protests started out as anti India protests but later were also targeted against the United States following the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy. The riot police consisting of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Indian Para-military forces fired teargas shells rubber bullets and also live ammunition on the protesters, resulting in 112 deaths, including many teenagers and an 11-year-old boy. The protests subsided after the Indian government announced a package of measures aimed at defusing the tensions in September 2010.
Shabir Ahmad Shah popularly known as Shabir Shah, in Kadipora, Anantnag, Kashmir is the founder and president of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP), one of the main separatist political organizations seeking "right of self-determination" to Jammu and Kashmir.
The 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election was held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which ends its six-year term on 19 January 2020. The results were declared on 23 December 2014. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs were used in 3 assembly seats out of 87 in Jammu Kashmir elections.
Masarat Alam Bhat is a Kashmiri Islamist activist and a political separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir. He is currently serving as the chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Muslim League, and also serves as the interim chairman of Geelani faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) refers to the alliance of top ranked separatist leaders of Kashmir. The resistance leadership includes Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and formerly Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Mirwaiz Muhammad Yusuf Shah was a religious leader and politician in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir during the British Raj. He served as the Imam of the Jama Masjid in Srinagar, a position that is also known as the "Mirwaiz of Kashmir". He relegated the majority of his political career to opposing the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference of Sheikh Abdullah, including siding with Pakistan during the First Kashmir War. He moved to Azad Kashmir and eventually served as the president of Azad Kashmir.
Mohammad Ashraf Khan, chiefly known as Ashraf Sehrai or just as Sehrai, was a Kashmiri separatist leader and chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a Kashmiri separatist political party. He was elected chairman through a first-ever election conducted in the history of Hurriyat when Syed Ali Shah Geelani relinquished office due to his deteriorating health.
Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari is Islamic Scholar. He is also cleric, preacher, activist, theologian, religious and political leader in Jammu and Kashmir. He is the Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM), a Kashmiri nationalist Shia separatist political party that aims for Shi'a–Sunni unity in Kashmir and is also a religious organization that conducts the Grand Ashura Procession in Kashmir. He is the President of Al-Abbas Relief Trust, Karan Nagar, Srinagar, and a Senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an alliance of 26 political, social, and religious organizations formed on 9 March 1993 as a united political front to unite Jammu and Kashmir. He is also a senior leader of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). He succeeded his father Mohammad Abbas Ansari after his death. Ansari is a religious leader of Kashmiri Shia Muslims, chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen, and Senior Leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.(JKLF).