Srinagar, May 5: The hardline Kashmiri separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani has appealed Kashmiri Muslim to offer funeral prayers in absentia for Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden after Friday prayers tomorrow. Apprehending trouble, authorities have placed the separatist leader under house arrest.
The 81-year old Geelani said Muslims across the world are like brothers to each other and are bound to pray for the remission of a deceased Muslim.
He appealed to Islamic scholars and clerics in Kashmir to organize funeral prayers in absentia for Osama Bin Laden after Friday prayers tomorrow.
“It’s a religious obligation, fulfilling which is collective duty,” he said and appealed people to offer collective prayers for “the liberation of Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan and other occupied Muslim nations under foreign occupation.”
Geelani said Osama’s heart felt the pain of Muslims and gave up a life of wealth and prosperity for oppressed and subjugated Muslims. “Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to fulfill the responsibility which has fallen on our shoulders after his (Osama’s) martyrdom,” he said.
“Osama’s name doesn’t represent an individual, it represents an ideology against foreign occupation. Western powers need to understand that the miseries and sufferings inflicted upon the people of Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and Afghanistan by foreign occupations are bound to spring up resistance in some form or shape,” the hardline separatist leader said.
Meanwhile, the authorities placed him under house arrest today.
“A contingent of policemen was deployed outside his residence in Srinagar and the leader was told that he cannot move out,” Geelani’s close aide said.
