A week after the death of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, his close aide Masarat Alam Bhat has been named the chairman of the hardliner group All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). Shabir Ahmad Shah and Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar, both, elected as vice-chairmen of the group. Bhat and Shah are both currently lodged in jail.
Geelani had formed the hardliner organisation and was his lifetime chairman but they had not announced a new head until after his death on 1st September, 2021.