Separatists in the Kashmir Valley are preparing for mass funeral prayers for JKLF founder and supporter of armed struggle Amanullah Khan (86), who died at a Rawalpindi hospital in Pakistan on Tuesday. A JKLF spokesman in Srinagar said funeral prayers in absentia would be held at Lal Chowk on April 27 at 2 p.m. “J&K has lost its most valiant son. Aman sahib was a pioneer of the struggle for the J&K’s independence. His persistence is an example,” said JKLF chief Yasin Malik, whose faction regrouped with Khan’s in 2011.
Khan, also father-in-law of Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone, founded the JKLF in 1977 in the United Kingdom. Khan is believed to have helped set up arms camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 1988. Khan’s U.S. visa was cancelled in 1990 and an Interpol Warrant of Arrest was issued against him.