Former Delhi University teacher SAR Geelani, who was arrested in the 2001 Parliament attack case before being acquitted by the Supreme Court, died Thursday following a cardiac arrest.
His son Atif confirmed to The Indian Express that Geelani (50), who stayed in Zakir Nagar, passed away in the evening. “He had gone to the gym when it happened,” he said. Geelani is survived by his wife, his son Atif and daughter Nusrat.
Former DUTA president Nandita Narain said, “We’ve seen him through many difficulties… His health was affected by the whole ordeal. I think he was a patient of asthma as well, and was unwell for the past few days.”
Geelani, a Kashmiri who earlier taught Arabic at Zakir Hussain College, was arrested and sentenced to death by a Delhi court in 2002 in connection with the 2001 Parliament attack. However, the Delhi HC acquitted him of all charges for “need of evidence” in October 2003. The SC upheld the HC’s decision in August 2005. Through it all, Geelani maintained his innocence.
Months before his SC acquittal in February 2005, Geelani was seriously injured when he was shot at five times outside his lawyer Nandita Haksar’s home in Vasant Kunj.
Geelani was vocal about his views on Kashmir’s self-determination and was critical of the hanging of Afzal Guru, who was convicted and hanged in connection with the Parliament attack case in 2001.
Geelani’s support of Guru landed him in trouble again when in 2016, shortly after then JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested for sedition for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans on campus, when he too was arrested for the same in February and kept in 14-day judicial custody. He had organised an event at the Press Club of India to mark the anniversary of the hanging of Guru.
He had been out on bail since March 2016, and was provided police security. Delhi Police is yet to file a chargesheet in the matter.
Family members wanted to take his body to Kashmir for the funeral and informed police that they did not want a post-mortem to be conducted as they didn’t suspect any foul play. Police, however, have decided to conduct a post-mortem Friday. The body was shifted to AIIMS Thursday night.