Masarat Alam may be re-arrested soon, claim sources; J&K govt evasive

With the Centre and the Congress-led Opposition increasing pressure on the Jammu and Kashmir government to take strict action against hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam for waving Pakistan's flag and raising anti-India slogans during a rally at the Lal Chowk, sources on Thursday said that he may be put behind bars soon.

New Delhi/Jammu: With the Centre and the Congress-led Opposition increasing pressure on the Jammu and Kashmir government to take strict action against hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam for waving Pakistan's flag and raising anti-India slogans during a rally at the Lal Chowk yesterday, sources on Thursday said that he may be put behind bars soon.

According to reports, the Centre has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to take ''strictest possible steps'' against those involved in anti-India activities during a rally led by Alam on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed last night and made it clear that the issue of national security cannot be compromised.

The Chief Minister briefed Singh about what happened at the rally and the situation there, official sources said.  Singh told Sayeed that "any step which can be termed as anti-national cannot be tolerated," as per PTI.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju also later reassured that the Jammu and Kashmir Government would take up the issue against separatist leader Masarat Alam for waving Pakistani flag and ensuing anti-India sentiments at a rally in Srinagar.

"We have taken note of it and have encouraged State Government to initiate action against such people. So, the State Government has to handle the situation," Rijiju told the media.

The J&K government has so far been evasive on the issue, with Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed saying that “law will take its own course in this matter.”   

After a gap of five years, Jammu and Kashmir government yesterday allowed Geelani to hold the rally where his supporters including Masarat Alam, released from jail last month, raised pro-Pakistan slogans and others waved Pakistani flags.

Alam, who was released soon after PDP-BJP government came to power in the state, led the march from the Srinagar Airport to Geelani's residence at Hyderpora.

This was Geelani's first public rally after the 2010 summer agitation in Srinagar in which over 100 youths were killed. Alam was a key player in the entire agitation and used to issue a weekly schedule for strikes.

Congress has also reacted sharply to the development and slammed the PDP-BJP alliance for having released a man who holds strong anti-India views.

“The first step that BJP and PDP did in J&K was to release Masarat Alam, a man responsible for stone-pelting and anti-India slogans. It's unfortunate, the incidents that are unfolding in Srinagar,” Congress leader RPN Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

The BJP also condemned the incident and said that the state government should take cognizance of the matter. “The manner in which Pakistani flags were being raised during a protest in Srinagar is completely unacceptable. The government should take cognizance of the matter,” said BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao.

The BJP also demanded immediate action and asked why the rally was allowed.

Following the incident, the Jammu and Kashmir Police later registered a case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Alam, Geelani and other separatist leaders present at the rally.

FIR No 92/2015 under sections 13 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 120-B, 147, 341, 336, 427 RPC was registered in Police Station Budgam and investigation into the matter has begun, PTI reported.

Masarat Alam, 44, was allegedly the main organiser of the massive protests in 2010 that saw Kashmiris clashing for months with Indian soldiers and police officers. More than 100 people were killed in the violence. He was released controversially from Baramulla jail in March, days after the People's Democratic Party or PDP's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over as chief minister at the head of a government in which the BJP partners.

The latest controversy is likely to further strain the relationship between partners PDP and BJP, who are ideological opposites but have joined hands to govern Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of a common minimum programme.

With PTI inputs