Srinagar: A picture is doing rounds on social media, especially on WhatsApp, with the caption “Rare picture of young Geelani being taken away by Indian armed forces”.
The picture has gone viral and has been forwarded thousands of times already.
However, the picture is not of veteran Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Free Press Kashmir found that the picture shows Pakistani politician and feudal figure, hailing from Balochistan, Ataullah Mengal, accompanied by Pakistani police.
Mengal was also the first Chief Minister of Balochistan during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s premiership from 1 May 1972 to 13 February 1973.
In 2009, Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal was one of many candidates considered for the position of President of Pakistan after the resignation of Pervez Musharraf.
He died on 2 September 2021 in Karachi, Sindh.
Geelani, 92, passed away on Wednesday evening at his Hyderpora residence after prolonged illness.
The family members had alleged that police snatched the body of Geelani in the dead of the night and buried him silently, a charge out rightly refuted by the police.
A video showing Pakistani flag over the body of Geelani had gone viral on social media.
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