India detains Kashmiri
leader Syed Ali Geelani
held Kashmir's most senior separatist
leader, Syed Ali Geelani, was put under house arrest again on Saturday -- just
two weeks after the end of a previous eight-month detention.
A police truck and a contingent of
policemen was placed outside the 83-year-old leader's home and he was told to
remain inside.
"We condemn this illegal
confinement. The government was unnerved by the passionate reception I received
over the last few days," Geelani told AFP from his house in Srinagar, the
region's main city.
He had announced plans to address
public rallies across Kashmir to campaign for the right to self-determination
and ask people to "boycott" state elections due next year.
There was no immediate comment from
Indian authorities who often confine separatist leaders to their homes when
they are worried about them leading protest rallies.
"This illegal confinement is
highly condemnable. The government wants to choke us and muzzle the voice of
freedom," Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told AFP.
As pro-India political groups also
gear up for the elections, Geelani was drawing big crowds wherever he went on
his anti-poll campaign.
"We won't give our vote to our
enemies who suppress us," Geelani said in a recent speech to thousands of
people.
"We're not afraid of house
arrests," Geelani said. Geelani was released from house arrest on October
29 after 263 days following pressure from critics who said he had been detained
long enough.
Immediately after he was freed,
Geelani hit the road, energetically addressing crowds of defiant youth.
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