SRINAGAR: Hurriyat leader Musarat Alam has been arrested in Indian held Kashmir ahead of a rally in south Kashmir’s Tral on Friday.
Alam and top hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani were earlier placed under house arrest on Thursday, a day after police filed a case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against them for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during a rally in Srinagar.
Alam was leading the supporters of Geelani during the Srinagar procession in which Pakistan flags were displayed and pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan slogans were raised.
“Nothing will change, I expected nothing to,” Alam told Indian news channel. Demands were being raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for Alam’s detention and they turned sharper after the Srinagar rally.
Geelani had planned the Friday rally in Tral, where a civilian was killed in firing by the security forces three days ago, the reports said.
“Let them (government) do whatever they want to. We will carry on with what we are doing. My message to them is that they should follow the Hurriyat programme,” Alam said after his house arrest.
The state government had earlier denied permission for the Friday congregation.
The move came after Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the law would take its own course when asked how Alam would be reined in following his participation in the ‘anti-India’ rally in Srinagar.
Alam is the chairman of Muslim League, a constituent of Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani and is widely seen as the latter’s heir apparent.
