Srinagar: The Government of India yesterday suspended the passport of pro-freedom Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani for four weeks in order to prevent him from visiting the US to attend a meeting organised by the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) in New York.
“We got an email from the passport office stating that the passport issued to Geelani sahib has been suspended for four weeks. The passport office didn’t cite any reason,” Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani.
The meeting of the foreign ministers of Islamic countries is scheduled for September 27 in New York.
Hurriyat spokesperson said SAS Geelani had applied for visa with the US embassy and they had given him a green signal.
“It seems the government of India got unnerved with the response to the visa application of Geelani sahib and suspended his passport,” he said.
He strongly condemned the move of GOI and said that it had become a regular practice by the Indian government to stop the Kashmiri leadership to raise issues relating to people of Kashmir.
“This is an attack on the freedom of expression. The government of India doesn’t want our leadership to raise awareness among the international community about India’s suppressive tactics in Kashmir,” he said. “There is no democracy in India. India is an intolerant country,” he added.