Geelani’s Legacy Under Siege: TeH Office Attached as Separatist Clampdown Intensifies in the Valley

A three-storey building in Rehmatabad, Hyderpora, once the bustling epicentre of separatist strategies, now stands silent, its gates locked, and a police board affixed to its wall. 

On Wednesday, Budgam Police attached the headquarters of the banned Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), a hardline outfit founded in 2004 by the late Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under Section 25 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). 

The move, linked to FIR No. 08/2024 at Budgam Police Station, is part of India’s unrelenting campaign to dismantle secessionist networks in Jammu and Kashmir. 

“In a major action against secessionist and terrorist networks, Budgam Police have attached the head office of the banned organisation Tehreek-e-Hurriyat at Rehmatabad, Hyderpora,” a police statement declared. 

FIR reads TeH’s involvement in funding terror modules, inciting unrest, and coordinating anti-India activities, charges that align with the group’s long-standing pro-Pakistan agenda. 

“TeH, born from a rift within the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), was Geelani’s brainchild. APHC, formed in 1993, united over two dozen separatist groups under a shared demand for self-determination”, said a senior political analyst while wishing anonymity. 

“At its peak, it orchestrated valley-wide hartals, election boycotts, and international campaigns to spotlight the Kashmir conflict. But ideological divides, particularly Geelani’s rejection of dialogue with New Delhi, led to his 2003 exit from APHC, culminating in TeH’s formation,” he added. 

Under Geelani, TeH became notorious for stone-pelting protests, shutdowns, and alleged covert ties to terror groups like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror networks, channelling funds to fuel anti-national activities. 

“Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who died on September 1, 2021, framed Kashmir’s struggle as a jihad for accession to Pakistan, leading the 1987 election rigging protests that sparked the armed uprising,” he said. 

Geelani at the APHC and later TeH galvanised resistance, most during the 2010 summer unrest that left over 100 dead in the Valley. 

India’s crackdown on separatism gained momentum after the August 2019 abrogation of Article 370, which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and reorganised it into two Union Territories. 

The move gutted the political space for separatists, unleashing a wave of UAPA bans, NIA raids, and asset seizures. 

TeH was outlawed on December 31, 2023, for five years, a decision upheld by a UAPA tribunal in June 2024 over evidence of terror financing. Since 2019, over 2,000 separatist leaders and sympathisers have been detained. 

Meanwhile, in a seismic shift, two APHC factions denounced separatism in March 2025, embracing post-Article 370 integration as a sign of the Hurriyat’s dwindling clout. 

Wednesday’s seizure reflects the Centre’s iron-fisted policy, as articulated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who recently declared that “separatism is breathing its last” in Kashmir. 

“TeH’s infrastructure is being meticulously dismantled, brick by brick, sending an unequivocal message that the era of unchecked separatism is over. The action indicates Centre’s unwavering commitment to eradicating secessionist networks, paving the way for enduring peace and integration in Kashmir,” added a senior political analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

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