SRINAGAR: Indian forces maintained an armed guard around the grave of Syed Ali Geelani, a leading voice against New Delhi’s rule in occupied Kashmir over the past five decades, amid mounting public anger over police footage of his funeral, which his family said they were barred from attending.

Indian authorities have imposed a security clampdown in the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since Ali Geelani’s death last week.

His family said the freedom leader’s body was forcibly taken away and buried in the middle of the night and his sons were kept away from the last rites and burial.

Police have denied the accusations, but faced fresh outrage after posting video on Twitter on Monday showing Geelani’s body being washed, wrapped in a shroud and buried.

Fearing protests, his grave in Srinagar has been placed under armed guard and visitors are not allowed.

Hurriyet Conference names jailed Kashmiri leader Masarat Alam Bhat as new leader

Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, the most senior jurist in held Kashmir, condemned the police action as “un-Islamic”.

He said the body of a deceased person must be respected even if it is a “criminal sentenced to death”.

“I think his family is hurt and the people of Kashmir are hurt. Police should apologise for doing this,” the jurist said.

Police issued the clips after a video widely shared on social media showed Geelani’s body, wrapped in a Pakistan flag, being taken away by armed police as his family scuffled with police.

Indian forces then issued a statement saying Ali Geelani’s sons initially agreed to a quick funeral, but changed their minds “probably under pressure from Pakistan” and “started resorting to anti-national activities”.

It added that “after persuasion”, Geelani’s relatives brought the body to the graveyard “and performed last rites with due respect”. It did not name which relatives were present.

Indian authorities cut mobile signal and the internet across held Kashmir following Geelani’s death — services that have only begun coming back online since Sunday.

Ali Geelani was once head of the Hurriyet Conference, an influential coalition of Kashmiri freedom groups.

The Conference announced on Tuesday that Masarat Alam Bhat, a resistance leader who has been in an Indian jail since 2010, had been named as the new head of the coalition.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2021