Senior separatist leader of the Hurriyat (G), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has been issued a passport by the Union Ministry of External Affairs almost two months after his application kicked up a controversy.
According to senior officials in the passport department, Mr. Geelani’s passport has a short validity of only nine months.
“A passport has been dispatched to Mr. Geelani’s address from our Regional Passport office,” Regional Passport Officer of Kashmir, Firdous Iqbal Tak, told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Mr. Geelani had applied for passport in May to travel to Saudi Arabia to visit his ailing daughter.
The application set off a row with BJP demanding Mr. Geelani’s apology for his ‘anti-national activities.’
