Thread —the curious case of Kashmiri separatist leaders post August 5.

Many Kashmiris are surprised at the silence of Hurriyat leaders. Hurriyat leaders are surprised too. There have been no shutdown calls, no protest calendars, no fiery statements from Hurriyat since August 5.

Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, the chairman of Tehreek-e-Azadi when questioned by a bunch of Kashmiri journalists at his Srinagar residence, said he hasn’t issued any statements because media wouldn’t publish it, also added he has no idea why Geelani & Mirwaiz were silent post August 5.

Ashraf Sehrai, whose son, a MBA graduate joined Hizb-ul-mujahideēn in 2018, told journalists to ask Geelani & Mirwaiz as to why they have been silent. He also looked shocked, asked journalist why did they show up at his house after 3 months, if they were sent by Indian agencies?

Geelani, who previously shut #Kashmir on 100s of occasions, has not called for shutdown/ issued any protest calendar. Geelani is under house arrest at Hyderpora, his children who live elsewhere in the city have free access to him, some people disguised as relatives have met him.

SAS Geelani has been under house arrest for 8 years. He/ his team have issued 2 statements since Aug 5, one in which he asked people to remain calm, not resort to violence, and recently the second in which he wrote to Pakistan PM asking him to designate LoC as ceasefire line.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq is under house detention at his Nigeen mansion. He has not issued any statements protesting August 5 decisions by government of India. He only issued a statement denying media reports that he signed a bond/ made a deal with the govt to go into silent mode.

Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai is at home, not under house arrest. There are no cops outside his home currently. He confessed to not have issued any statements, looked surprised to have not have seen any statements coming in from Syed Ali Shah Geelani or Mirwaiz Umer Farooq either.

I had said this in August —since, NIA went after the Hurriyat leaders, they changed their policies. They know if they agitate, they will end up in Tihar in terror-funding case like Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and others. So, they are silent to save themselves and their families.

Indian governments fed Hurriyat leaders for decades, state governments served them, Pakistan treated them like owners of #Kashmir; they stashed money, made properties in crores, got their children govt jobs, sent their grandchildren abroad —and Kashmiri fools worshiped them.

Kashmiri militants, led by Hizb-ul-mujahideēn would be confused too, wondering where is their Hurriyat, and maybe recalling what AQ-linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind’s Zakir Musa had told them about Hurriyat, when he called them “merchants of blood, running their shops in #Kashmir”.

Now, even if Hurriyat leaders emerge from their mansions and issue any statements, most of the Kashmiris will find them irrelevant. Kashmiris have been protesting for 100 days on their own. In my opinion, they won’t let so called Hurriyat leaders hijack their protests again.

For me, it’s the the beginning of the end of Hurriyat in #Kashmir, and with that it’s the the beginning of the end of pro-Pakistan hokum in Kashmir. Pakistan will feel it too. I don’t expect Imran Khan or anyone from Pakistani establishment to respond to Geelani’s recent letter.

Geelani, after 100 days urges Pakistan to withdraw from bilateral agreements with India. Pakistan would have done it way back in August itself if they could. Geelani hasn’t realised Pakistan’s diplomacy has been an abject failure, should ask Pakistan about those ‘55 countries’?

In sharp contrast, India was preparing for Article 370 Abrogation for a year prior to August 5. Indian diplomats would circle world capitals to elaborate on India's position on the matter —explains why Pakistan’s harangue was met with such a muted response globally. #Kashmir

If India is being ‘grilled’ globally, it’s only for the communication clampdown, detention of political leaders, civilians. Nobody talks about what happened on August 5. That’s is history. India will take its own sweet time and restore normalcy. Geelani’s Pakistan can do NOTHING.

Chairman, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, J&K Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai told journalists he tried to establish contact with Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq post August 5, he also reached out to people close to Geelani and Mirwaiz, but there has been “no response”. #Kashmir

Summary: Hurriyat has officially been silenced by NIA. Geelani & Mirwaiz are quiet because their freedom, families are at stake. They ditched ‘Azadi’ and ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’ for their own Azadi. Ashraf Sehrai is a nobody, poor guy isn’t even under house arrest.

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