BJP, Congress unite to criticise Geelani's 'not Indian by birth' remark

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s remarks about not being an Indian by birth sparked a strong reaction from not just the government of India but from other political leaders as well. [caption id=“attachment_2282000” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Syed Ali Geelani. Reuters[/caption] Appearing at the passport office to get his travel documents, the Hurriyat leader said, “I am not by birth Indian. It is a compulsion,” referring to the nationality column in his application. A Hurriyat spokesman even justified Geelani writing Indian in the nationality column saying “travelling on the Indian passport is a compulsion of every Kashmiri”. “Geelani too is compelled to complete the formalities in this regard,” he said. The government of India reacted strongly to Geelani’s statement, with Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, PMO saying that such separatist jargon will not be tolerated. “We won’t tolerate separatist jargon. Kashmir is integral part of India,” Singh told Times Now. Anurag Thakur, President of BJP’s Youth Wing, was more vocal in his criticism of Geelani on Twitter:

Another BJP leader, Sanjay Kaul reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir was a part of India. He was quoted by ANI as saying, “J&K is the part of India and the one who has born here will remain Indian.” And it wasn’t just the BJP. Congress leader RPN Singh told _ANI, “_The politics which he want to lead won’t get attention if he won’t give such statements.” However, Geelani wasn’t isolated. The youth president of the Peoples Democratic Party from Kashmir, Waheed-ur- Rehman Para, told ANI that Geelani made it clear that he will not do anything that is anti-India, as his visit will be completely private. Geelani is seeking a passport as he wants to visit his ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia. He arrived at the the Passport Seva Kendra to submit his biometric data, finger prints and iris scan and declared his nationality as Indian, insisting that it’s a compulsion. The issue of granting Geelani passport had sparked a political debate with ruling BJP opposing it saying that he should declare his nationality as Indian and apologise for his anti-national activities. However, its ally in the state PDP had favoured it. with inputs from PTI