NEW DELHI: A day after Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani was charged with sedition, pressure is building on Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed to get him arrested for anti-national activities .

On Wednesday, Geelani along with his trusted lieutenant Masarat Alam and five other members of Hurriyat Conference (G) were charged with charges of ‘sedition’ and ‘waging war against India’.

Masarat Alam is already in jail and fighting for his bail. The Srinagar court will be deciding his fate on April 25.

According to the Hurriyat leaders, PDP-BJP government declared in the court that the top five leaders including Geelani are charged with "Sedition" while earlier, the police said that Masarat Alam was taken into preventive custody to tackle the situation.

Legal experts in the valley state that a person charged with “waging war against India” can be sentenced to life imprisonment or death and those charged with sedition can be punished with life imprisonment or life sentence plus fine.

These charges have also been slapped on Peer Saifullah, Raja Mehraj-ud-din Kalwal, Javed Ahmad Najar and Zahoor Ahmed Kanna and amalgam’s spokesman Ayaz Akbar.

This means that Geelani may be arrested and sent to jail if the court proceed with sedition charges.

It is pertinent to mention here that last week, hundreds of supporters led by top Hurriyat leaders including Masarat Alam shouted anti-India and pro-Pak slogans while welcoming Syed Ali Geelani at Srinagar airport. Many supporters in that rally also waved Pakistani flags which created a political storm in New Delhi and the Valley.

With pressure from alliance partner BJP, Mufti Sayeed government arrested Masarat Alam and yesterday slapped 'sedition' charges against top Hurriyat leaders including Geelani.

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