In the twilight hours of the day today, the voice of Kashmir in Delhi, a true friend of Sikhs, the defender of  human rights of Kashmiris, Sikhs, Tamils and everyone else, teacher of Arabic at the Delhi University, Professor S A R Geelani passed away after a massive cardiac arrest, leaving behind a void which will take a long time to fill. 

CHEERFUL WITH A LOVELY SMILE always springing forth from around his moustache and beard, bubbling with energy, a fighter at heart, a towering personality, a close friend and Kashmiri human rights defender, Professor Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani is no more.

In the twilight hours of the day today, the voice of Kashmir in Delhi, the friend of Sikhs, the defender of rights of Kashmiris, Sikhs, Tamils and everyone else, teacher of Arabic at the Delhi University Prof. S. A. R. Geelani passed away after a massive cardiac arrest.

Pro-freedom Kashmiri and Sikh leaders and the hundreds for whom he fought single-handedly will miss him forever.  My heart goes out to his family, children and to the people of Kashmir who have lost a brave son.

It makes us more sad and distraught that the people of Kashmir, the leaders of the pro-freedom struggle would not even know about his demise as Kashmir continues to be separated by an iron curtain from the rest of the world, notwithstanding hearings in the UN Human Rights Council and the on-going US house foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia and Pacific hearing on “Human Rights in South Asia.” Many of his compatriots whose rights he defended are languishing in the prisons of Pune and Mumbai.

The independence seekers of Kashmir on the streets, the leaders of the Kashmir struggle have suddenly lost their voice when it was needed most.  Undoubtedly, God has his own ways, but today we needed him more than ever before. Alas! Allah did not give him time and opportunity even to fight back for which he was so well known.

The independence seekers of Kashmir on the streets, the leaders of the Kashmir struggle have suddenly lost their voice when it was needed most.  His shoulders will be missed by the hundreds of Kashmiri students in Delhi and beyond which burdened their agony and needs in dire times.

Undoubtedly, God has his own ways, but today we needed him more than ever before.  Alas! Allah did not give him time and opportunity even to fight back for which he was so well known. With the civil libertarians of Delhi in deep slumber, some in self-imposed quietude, others fearing the wrath of the state, some imprisoned, Delhi desperately needed the likes of Geelani.

This writer befriended him nearly ten years ago or more when we joined him to protect the rights of prisoners as part of the Committee for Protection of Rights of Prisoners. When I met him last just a few weeks ago, he was clear about the way the government of India was crushing the people of Kashmir, incarcerating leaders, dissenters and protestors in far-away prisons of UP, Haryana and elsewhere. He said, “Difficult times for Kashmiris, but they will fight back.”

Apparently, he died of cardiac arrest but he was under deep stress of how the state was overawing all Kashmiris, the Kashmiri leadership and himself too. He had been placed under suspension by the Delhi University, in compliance with state directives since the last two years or so for his pro-Kashmir activities. From August 5, when Kashmir was put under lockdown, for nearly a month or more he was under house arrest in Delhi and this writer is privy to the fact that Prof Geelani was constantly harassed and pressurised by various state agencies since the last many months and particularly over the last many weeks. India cannot escape responsibility for putting him in this condition.

“We have lost one of the best and valuable friends of the Sikhs and an admirer of the Sikh independence struggle. Personally, I am at a loss of words to express my feelings for my closest Kashmiri friend.”

Kanwar Pal Singh, leader Dal Khalsa

Interacting with Sikhs, Kashmiris and Tamils at the protest meet in Delhi on 26 September, he walked step by step with all protestors and encouraged the young protestors from Punjab and Tamil Nadu to continue the fight for the legitimate right of Kashmiris and all other peoples and nationalities.  Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh, who cannot come to terms with the loss of Prof. Geelani told me, “We have lost one of the best and valuable friends of the Sikhs and an admirer of the Sikh independence struggle. Personally, I am at a loss of words to express my feelings for my closest Kashmiri friend.”

This author reminisces the hours spent with him when he thrashed threadbare the flimsy evidence, the lack of legal resources to Afzal Guru and the surreptitious manner in which Afzal Guru was hanged in prison. Prof. Geelani fought to the last for Afzal Guru despite all odds.  Professor Geelani was arrested for his alleged complicity with Afzal Guru in the militant attack case on the Indian Parliament. He was acquitted for want of evidence but despite protestations by his counsel Ram Jethmalani, the Indian Supreme Court attached a stigma to his life by putting the words “suspicious of his role” in the acquitting judgement.

For the record, he was arrested under POTA, convicted for attempt to blow up the Indian parliament, sentenced to death, tortured in police custody, attacked by hostile fellow-prisoners in Tihar Jail, pronounced guilty in media trial till the Supreme Court acquitted him. He was shot at outside his lawyer’s residence with five bullets in his stomach, still, he survived.

“Prof. Geelani spent his life just one shot away from death. In a strange peculiar way, at least he died a natural death. More natural than what some in this country wished for him.” 

A journalist friend remarked on learning about his death, “The man spent his life just one shot away from death. In a strange peculiar way, at least he died a natural death. More natural than what some in this country wished for him.”

I joined Kanwarpal Singh and others to observe the first death anniversary of Afzal Guru in Delhi at a meet boldly organised by Prof S A R Geelani.  Despite all restrictions and pressures, he was at his classic best to manoeuvre out of a crisis in his personal life as well as protest demonstrations and solidarity meetings.

In Delhi, when the pro-Sikh-freedom leader Simranjit Singh Mann told him, “Prof. Geelani, it must be difficult without a proper salary?” He replied, “It is difficult, but we have to fight. No choice. We may be down for some time, but we are not out. Resistance and dissent are in our blood.”

During the run-up to the presentation of a memorandum to the UN office in Delhi for the Kashmiri people, pro-Sikh-freedom leader Simranjit Singh Mann told him, “Prof. Geelani, it must be difficult without a proper salary?” He replied, “It is difficult, but we have to fight. No choice. We may be down for some time, but we are not out. Resistance and dissent are in our blood.” Simranjit Singh Mann expressed feelings about learning Urdu and Arabic.

When this author called Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman to tell him about Geelani’s demise, he was shocked. He said, “Kashmir has lost its unsung hero. I know that for the last many years, he has been steadfast in upholding the rights of the Kashmiri people. I am also aware of how he has been defending the rights of prisoners all around India.”

With his ancestral house near the Gurdwara Chevvin Patshahi (Gurdwara in the memory of the sixth Guru-Guru Hargobind Sahib) in Badgam, Kashmir, Prof S A R Geelani was a true friend of the Sikhs. Whenever any human rights or political group asked him to come to Punjab to speak for their rights, he was just a phone call away.  Not known to mince words, he laid his heart out whenever he spoke, dispassionately but thoroughly.  Many a time he substituted for Hurriyat conference Kashmiri leader octogenarian Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who could not attend solidarity meets as he was invariably under house arrest.

“Kashmir has lost its unsung hero. I know that for the last many years, he has been steadfast in upholding the rights of the Kashmiri people. I am also aware of how he has been defending the rights of prisoners all around India.”

Seeman, leader Naam Tamilar Katchi

I fondly remember the peace I felt when along with Prof. Geelani, Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh, I visited in Kashmir the ancestral home of Mohammed Maqbool Bhatt, who was hanged in Tihar prison. Meeting his siblings and relatives, sharing their pain and pride was an unforgettable experience.  Our visit was a homage to the martyr who was a pioneer of the Kashmiri nationalist movement in modern times.

At the UN office in Delhi, when the Delhi police attempted to stop the delegation to meet UN officials, he remarked, “It seems not only at the United Nations in New York, but here in Delhi too, the UN is being pressurised by India. The UN territory is an independent territory, yet the Delhi police are calling the shots.”

“Be the voice of Kashmiris, tell the world what is happening there.” “If the Sikhs can help in the medical treatment of kids and young Kashmiri victims of pellet wounds by bringing them to hospitals in Gurdaspur and Amritsar, that would be a significant contribution,”

Prof S A R Geelani, a few weeks prior to his demise

For the Kashmiris, his unparalleled contribution will always be a beacon light. Human rights defenders in India have lost a comrade.

During the course of the preparation for the protest meet in Delhi, I had asked Prof. Geelani, ‘What can we do for the Kashmiris in this phase of their struggle?” He said, “Be their voice, tell the world what is happening there.” “If the Sikhs can help in the medical treatment of kids and young Kashmiri victims of pellet wounds by bringing them to hospitals in Gurdaspur and Amritsar, that would be a significant contribution,” he added. I had promised him that I will certainly explore the possibilities. If I and the Sikh community can fulfil this, it would be a befitting tribute to a great friend of the Sikhs.