Srinagar, September 18
While the separatists want the children of the common man to come out on the roads to protest and leave their studies for a ‘bigger cause’, their own children and family members are getting the best education in other parts of the country and even abroad.

The Tribune has a list of some of the senior separatist leaders whose children and relatives are studying in other parts of the country or abroad.

Nayeem Geelani, son of the chairman of the hard line faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Geelani, who has been spearheading the agitation for the past more than three months, is a medical practitioner in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Nayeem’s wife is also in the same profession there.

Geelani’s second son, Zahoor Geelani, along with his family lives in New Delhi. Izhaar Geelani, grandson of Syed Ali Geelani, is a crew member of a private airliner in India, while his daughter Farhat Geelani is a teacher in Jeddah and her husband is an engineer there. Gulam Nabi Fall, a cousin of the octogenarian separatist leader, lives in London.Rabia Farooq, sister of chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, is a doctor and lives in the USA. Jugnu, son of Ghulam Mohammed Sumzi, general secretary of the Geelani faction, is a management student in New Delhi. Abid Sehrai, son of Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, another general secretary of the Geelani faction, is a computer engineer in Dubai.

Mariyam Andrabi, sister of head of the radical Dukhtran-e-Millat Asiya Andrabi, along with her family lives in Malaysia. Asiya wanted to send her elder son to Malaysia for further studies, but he was denied a passport.

Rooma Maqbool, son of head of Mass Movement Farida Behanjee, lives and works as a medical practitioner in South Africa. Iqbal and Bilal, sons of head of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party Hashim Qureshi, live in London.

Sarwar Yaqub, son of a spokesman for the Geelani faction, Ayaz Akbar, is a management student in Pune, while two sons of another leader of the Geelani faction Abdul Aziz Dar, Umer Dar and Adil Dar are studying in Pakistan.

While for the past three months the education of the children of common people in the Valley has suffered a severe blow due to the ongoing unrest, a majority of the separatist leaders in Kashmir have made it sure that their children get quality education outside Kashmir. More than 100 persons, mostly youths, have died in the ongoing unrest in the Valley.