Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Masarat Alam were put under house arrest on Thursday to prevent them from leading a rally on Friday to Tral, where a 24-year-old civilian was shot dead by the Army on Monday.
The police have registered a case against Mr. Geelani, Mr. Alam and Peer Saiffulah for hoisting the Pakistani flag at a rally on Wednesday.
A day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to take strictest possible action against those involved in raising pro-Pakistan slogans at a rally in Srinagar on Wednesday, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spoke the same language terming the act intolerable.
Mr. Sayeed told NDTV that such an act was unacceptable and the law would take its course. He told the media that it was fine till the separatists kept to rallies, but the raising of Pakistani flags would not be tolerated and action would be taken against those who hoisted the Pakistani flag at the rally of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar.
The J&K police have registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against Mr. Geelani, Masarat Alam and Peer Saiffulah. However, no arrests have been made so far.
While Mr. Sayeed had struck an understanding with the BJP over providing a democratic space to all political views in Kashmir, the waving of Pakistani flags evidently crosses the threshold of the arrangement, provoking the BJP to cry foul and forcing the Chief Minister to act.
Stating that the government would not tolerate any anti-national activity, Mr. Singh on Thursday said at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh that he had spoken to Mr. Sayeed and sought strict action against those involved.
Amid pro-Azadi and pro-Pakistan slogans, thousands of people in Srinagar welcomed Mr. Geelani with Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and Pakistani flags. The Hurriyat leader had returned to Kashmir after spending four months in Delhi.
The Chief Minister on Thursday decided to deny permission for a rally by separatists on Friday from Srinagar to Tral where a youth was killed by the Army in a “gun battle.”
