Alam rally: Rajnath asks Mufti to take 'stringent action'

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to take stringent action against separatist leaders who organised a pro-Pakistan rally in the state.

"I have had a discussion with the J-K Chief Minister and I have asked him to take stringent steps in this regard," Rajnath told media persons here.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had stated that the law will take its own course even as demands for Alam's arrest resurfaced.

A host of protests were organised across the country in protest against separatist leader Masarat Alam and the Jammu and Kashmir government.

While the Shiv Sena led a protest in Jammu, the Youth Congress led another agitation in Bengaluru.

On Wednesday, Alam sparked a fresh controversy by raising anti-India slogans to greet separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The incident led to widespread criticism over Mufti Sayeed's move to release Alam, a political prisoner, from the Baramulla prison, as there were no criminal charges against him.

Alam is the chairman of Muslim League, a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani and is widely seen as the latter's heir apparent.

He had been convicted for organizing anti-India protests resulting in the death of 112 people in stone pelting across the Valley in 2010.