Most wanted separatist held in Kashmir

• The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday achieved a major success by arresting Massarat Alam Bhat, the most wanted separatist leader in Kashmir.
• Alam heads the pro-Pakistan Muslim League and is also general secretary of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Syed Ali Geelani.
• Believed to be the main architect of the anti-India protests in the Valley for the past four months, the 38-year-old Alam was in hiding. He acted as a close confidant of Mr. Geelani and was seen as the one who chalked out 10-day protest calendars signed by Mr. Geelani.
• Alam has been jailed for more than 10 years on charges, mostly of waging war against the State and "acting against national interest."
• A student of Kashmir's prestigious missionary school, Tyndale Biscoe, Alam came from a secure middle-class background. He is a science graduate from SP College. Alam joined the political movement in 1987 as a 16-year-old, participating in rallies of the Muslim United Front, a conglomerate of separatist parties that contested the 1987 elections.
• It was in the 2008 uprising against transfer of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that he devised the 'Ragda': a dance in which people formed circles, stood shoulder-to shoulder, and stomped their feet shouting anti-India slogans. This year, Alam coined the "Go India, Go Back" slogan.