Srinagar, May 21: Sajjad Gani Lone, the chairman of the People’s Conference (PC), has been placed under house arrest in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on the 24th death anniversary of his father, Abdul Gani Lone. A party spokesperson described this detention as “undemocratic.”
Abdul Gani Lone was assassinated on May 21, 2002, by terrorists at Eidgah ground in Srinagar while he was paying tribute to senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Farooq. He entered politics in 1967, serving in the state assembly as a Congress candidate. In 1978, he founded the ‘People’s Conference,’ a Kashmiri separatist organization dedicated to restoring “internal autonomy” in Kashmir.
Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Farooq was also killed on May 21, 1990, at his residence in Nigeen, Srinagar. He emerged as a leader during the protests over the disappearance of sacred relics from Hazratbal shrine at the age of 19. He led demonstrations demanding the return of these relics and helped form the ‘All Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee’ (AAC), of which he became the president.
Although primarily a religious figure, his influence extended into social-political mobilization, especially representing sections of Kashmiri Muslims outside major regional parties.
In 2010, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was convicted for Mirwaiz’s murder, and in 2023, police arrested two more terrorists in connection with the case. During a press briefing, police revealed that one of the arrested individuals was the one who entered Mirwaiz’s bedroom and shot him.
Following Mirwaiz Maulana Mohammad Farooq’s death, his son, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, became the chief cleric and president of the Awami Action Committee, while Sajjad Gani Lone succeeded his father.
Sajjad is currently the president of his party and serves as the sitting MLA from the Handwara constituency in northern Kashmir, representing a 90-member assembly.
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