Altaf Shah's peaceful funeral points to waning influence of separatists

When incarcerated Kashmiri separatist leader Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Fantoosh—once considered heir apparent to Hurriyat hardliner late Syed Shah Geelani—was given final farewell at a funeral ground in Srinagar late Tuesday night, the atmosphere in the Valley was peaceful, almost drawing curtains to an era of whipped up sentiments, violence and protests. Security sources said around 100 - 125 people participated in the funeral. The attendees also included 40 - 50 police personnel.

Funeral grounds in the Valley have long acted as centres of demonstrations and protests, and at times even recruitment grounds for militants as was seen in 2016 when youth turned up in huge numbers during the funeral prayer of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of Hizbul Mujahideen. Six years later and post the abrogation of Article 370, however, the closure is complete and quiet.

The streets of Kashmir, which used to witness regular scenes of blood and gore a decade ago, were undisturbed. The social media didn't generate too much worry for the intelligence agencies who have been scouting the cyber space looking for Pakistani groups trying to muster support for the deceased leader. There were stray attempts by Pakistani groups to use Altaf's death as an excuse to exploit sentiments in Punjab and Kashmir—an old but failed tactic of the ISI.

Altaf was Geelani's son-in-law and the fourth separatist leader to die in custody or house arrest. Geelani died in house arrest last year, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai died in Jammu jail last year and Ghulam Mohammad Bhat died in a prison in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. 

''The waning influence of separatists in the Valley is clearly at display once again. Altaf was among the first senior separatist leaders charge-sheeted by the NIA under the anti-terror law, UAPA,'' said a senior security official. 

Geelani's death last year also did not trigger any spate of violence or protests, but the government had taken precautionary steps, deploying forces and shutting the internet to keep trouble makers at bay. 

Medical negligence claims

This time, however, the security and intelligence agencies are facing another challenge in the form of claims of medical negligence in Altaf's death. Shah's daughter Ruwa claimed that her father died as a prisoner—he had not been keeping well—accusing authorities of negligence. Ruwa had demanded his release on health grounds and made several appeals for his treatment after he was diagnosed with cancer last month.

Altaf was arrested on July 24, 2017 in a terror funding case by the NIA. The charge was of waging war against the country. Investigators claimed that he had played active role in advocating secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, aiding and abetting criminal acts and creating unrest through funding of terrorist and secessionist forces. In 2018, a special NIA court in Delhi charge-sheeted 18 terror accused, including Altaf, under various sections of the UAPA. Since then, he was lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi. 

Investigators said they were aware of Altaf's medical condition at the time of arrest—he was found to be suffering from diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia.

A medical report prepared by the investigators has countered the family's claims of negligence and said that Altaf was first admitted to Deen Dayal Uphdhyay hospital in the capital on September 16. It was revealed that he had developed right pleural effusion along with hydroureteronephrosis. Accordingly, he was referred to the RML Hospital the next day for urology opinion and further examination. 

The report claimed that Altaf's relatives were informed about it and he was admitted to RML Hospital on September 24 through an emergency reference from the central jail hospital in Tihar. The diagnosis revealed sepsis with a host of other medical issues and co-morbidities, following which he was shifted to the ICU under the supervision of specialists. During further diagnosis, it was revealed that he had kidney cancer and required critical support.

On October 2, he developed breathing difficulty and was treated by a team of doctors drawn from different specialties. He was shifted to the AIIMS on October 5 and family members were permitted to meet him in the hospital as per the rules. Altaf died on the night of October 10.