Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Arundhati Roy may be booked for sedition charge

The Union home ministry has reportedly permitted Delhi Police to file a case of sedition against hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and writer-activist Arundhati Roy, but the police are in two minds about doing it.

Delhi police is carefully examining every detail related to the controversial seminar  ‘Azaadi — The Only Way’, calling for the release of political prisoners, where Kashmiri secessionist Syed Ali Shah Geelani made ‘seditious’ statements.

Though a final decision has not yet been taken, it appears investigators are not completely certain that sedition charges should be pushed against Geelani. “There is little Geelani said at the seminar that he has not said before,” a senior officer connected with the case said. “He has been clever enough not to leave any loose ends,” he said.

In the seminar, Geelani’s call was supported by author Arundhati Roy. The separatist repeated his stand on secession of Kashmir from India, which drew adverse remarks, and a shoe, from the audience.

The separatist’s remarks prompted the opposition, chiefly the BJP, to lambast the government for allowing such speeches right under its nose.

Police officers who studied video tapes of the seminar, said there are very few grounds to book Geelani since he has simply reiterated his earlier stand, not called for an armed revolution or blood-letting. “He was careful enough to mention 111 deaths in the Valley. He said ‘stones were returned with bullets’. That makes his argument stronger,” an officer who saw the tapes said.

According to policemen, Geelani also issued pamphlets at the seminar which said that in the ‘Kashmir of his dreams’ he sees Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists living harmoniously. “He cleverly kept escape routes open,” an officer in the probe team said.

A source in the home ministry said the government is not too keen on pushing charges against Geelani and making him a martyr. “It may also be noted that merely registering an FIR may not serve the purpose,” a source said.

In Srinagar, Geelani appeared unfazed. “I have 90 FIRs registered against me already, this will be 91st,” he said.

Last month, government booked Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for instigating violence and arson under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Three cases were registered against Mirwaiz for making inflammatory speeches which instigated people to burn government offices and public property. No action was taken against him.

A senior Congress leader has asked writer-activist Arundhati Roy to withdraw her statement on Kashmir, saying it was “contrary to historical facts”. The Booker-winning author had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.”

Former union minister Satya Prakash Malaviya said Roy “would do better to brush up her history and know that the princely state of J&K had acceded to the Union of India after its ruler Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947”.