Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday suspended Naeem Khan-led National Front from the separatists’ group days over allegations of foreign funding. The suspension follows a sting operation purportedly showing Khan confessing to receiving funds from Pakistan to create unrest in Kashmir last year, PTI reported. Khan will continue to remain suspended until “the clarification of all the related issues comes to the fore,” Hurriyat spokesperson said.
The sting operation, conducted by India Today news channel, also featured Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairperson Farooq Ahmed Dar. The leaders were heard admitting to burning down schools and other government institutions to spread violence in Kashmir, India Today reported. On Friday, the National Investigation Agency had registered a preliminary enquiry into the case.
Khan has maintained that the sting operation clip was “fake” and “doctored”. He said the video was a “collage of bits and pieces”. “It does not have a shred of credibility,” he said. “The agenda of media is to defame the Kashmir struggle and pro-freedom leadership.”
Geelani, however, accused the media of “partial” reporting. “They [the media] are hellbent upon bringing a bad name to the leadership and defaming the ongoing freedom struggle,” the spokesperson quoted Geelani as saying.
Meanwhile, restrictions have been imposed in parts of Srinagar on Sunday after the separatist leadership in the Valley called for a complete shutdown to mark the death anniversaries of Moulvi Farooq and Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone. Several Awami Action Committee activists were detained on Saturday while they staged a rally, reported Hindustan Times.
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