Kashmiri separatist leader seeks vacation of land occupied by Indian troopers

Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani Monday called for an agitation against the land occupied by the Indian troopers in India-controlled Kashmir.

While addressing the press conference in Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir, Geelani announced a campaign demanding vacation of land under army and paramilitary troopers stationed in the region.

"I shall be announcing a detailed protest program against the illegal occupation of land by the Indian troopers in Kashmir. We had earlier announced that Hurriyat will launch a campaign against illegal occupation of land by the security forces after Eid. However, the program could not kick start because of our arrest. Now the festival is over we have decided to educate people in this regard," Geelani said.

Geelani said the Hurriyat will be calling for one-day strike and peaceful demonstrations in every district of the region separately.

"The demonstrations will be peaceful and there will be no provocative slogans. However, a Kashmir bandh will also be called after all the districts are covered," the aged leader said.

Meanwhile, police raided the venue of the press conference and arrested three of Geelani's activists who were raising pro-freedom slogans.

According to Geelani Indian, army and paramilitary troopers have occupied 138,057 hectares (276,1140 kannals) of land across the region.