May 23 , 2015
News
India too scared to issue passport to Geelani?
*PTI lawmaker appeals to UN, OIC and freedom-loving nations to press India to issue passport to Geelani
ReutersMUZAFFARABAD: The issue of passport for pro-Pakistan Hurriyet leader Syed Ali Geelani has created a stir in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The issue had earlier kicked off a controversy in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The PDP has said it would approach the centre for giving passport to Geelani on “humanitarian” grounds while the BJP has said he should not be given the travel document until he “apologises” for his anti-national activities.
According to Indian media, Geelani has applied for the travel document to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia.
Geelani and his wife have submitted an online a
However, the ruling BJP has said if the Hurriyet Conference chairman needs a passport he should accept he is an Indian, and apologise for indulging in “anti-India activities” in the past.
Khalid Jehangir, a state spokesman for BJP, categorically said, “Passport cannot be given to Geelani till he apologises for the mistakes he has committed during the past 25 years. Passports are issued to Indian citizens and not the ones who don’t believe in India and its democracy.”
On May 21, leaders of various religious and political parties in Muzaffarabad said they were highly disturbed by the decision of the Indian government.
Abdul Aziz Alvi, chief of Jamaatud Dawah (JuD), a charity linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), said the atrocities that Indian troops were inflicting on residents of IHK were known to the whole world, and refusal to issue a passport to an elderly and popular political figure was another Indian tactic to intimidate Kashmiri freedom fighters.
“It is very surprising that the Bharat government is not issuing a passport to Syed Ali Geelani for proceeding to Saudi Arabia, to Jeddah. How can such a government, such a state, such leaders present themselves for the membership of the United Nations, if they are not even willing to allow a member of the Assembly, and a popular figure of the state, to visit Saudia to meet his ailing daughter?” Alvi said.
Geelani was first issued passport in 1980 on which he participated in International Islamic Conference in the US. He performed Hajj in 1981 on the same passport.
His passport was seized in 1983 for his alleged anti-India addresses. Politicians in Muzaffarabad appealed to international community to ask India to allow Geelani travel. “India’s bad intentions and ill-will can be gauged from the fact that it is not allowing a father to go and visit his sick daughter. Therefore, on behalf of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference, I condemn this policy of the Indian government and I appeal to the world powers and the International community to take notice of this,” said Yusaf Naseem, convenor of All Parties Hurriyat Conference in AJK.
“I appeal to the United Nations, the OIC and all freedom-loving nations in the world to put pressure on the Indian government to issue a passport to Ali Geelani, so he can go and visit his sick daughter,” said Khawaja Farooq, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislator.
The issue equally disturbed ordinary citizens.
“Syed Ali Geelani’s daughter is ill in Saudi Arabia, and India is not issuing a passport to him. Yet, on one hand, India says it is in favour of democracy, on the other hand it wants to become a member of the United Nations. It should be ashamed of itself,” said resident Amjid Awan.
On May 21, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the passport application of Geelani cannot be processed in its present form, because it was incomplete.
The MEA statement came out hours after the Union Home Ministry said the request will be processed on “merit” as the travel document is the “right of every Indian citizen.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk