The revered and iconic Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Gilani passed away last night in Srinagar under Indian detention.
The family of Syed Ali Gilani was forced to give the body to occupational forces or bury him within 30 minutes, reports said.
The emblem of the Kashmir Freedom Movement was 92 years old and under house arrest since 2015 on the orders of the Indian government.
The Indian government had converted Gilani’s residence and office in Hyderpora into a sub-jail and cut off all means of communication to suppress his voice.
However, it didn’t shatter his resolve of getting independence from illegal Indian occupation.
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His house in Srinagar remains under heavy barricading and reports said he was buried at 4 am on Thursday with only family members and close relatives participating in the funeral.
According to the Kashmir media service, the veteran Hurriyat leader had developed chest congestion and facing difficulty in breathing.
Syed Ali Gilani dedicated his life fighting for Kashmir’s right to self-determination.
He was an MLA from the Sopore constituency of Jammu and Kashmir in 1972, 1977, and 1987 and also served as the chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).
The veteran leader remained associated with Jamaat-i-Islami in Indian Kashmir and later founded his party, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.
A length of his life was spent in jail or detention, the first episode of which came in 1962 when he kicked off the campaign for Jammu and Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan.
He withstood against dialogue with the Indian government and persistently demanded a plebiscite in the Indian-occupied Kashmir. The Indian government had put a sedition charge on Gilani in 2010.
The iconic leader was conferred with Pakistan’s highest civilian honor, Nishan-e-Pakistan, in 2020 and he was also an author of 11 books.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also expressed condolence on the death of Syed Ali Shah Gilani.
We in Pakistan salute his courageous struggle & remember his words: “Hum Pakistani hain aur Pakistan Humara hai”. The Pakistan flag will fly at half mast and we will observe a day of official mourning.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 1, 2021
Pakistan is observing Thursday as an official mourning day over the death of Ali Gilani and the flag will stay half-mast.