Jailed Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai passes away in Jammu

SRINAGAR — Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, who was facing detention under Public Safety Act (PSA), passed away after a brief illness at GMC in Jammu.

Sources said that Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai, who was admitted at GMC in Jammu on yesterday after his health started deteriorating at Kot Bhalwal jail where was facing detention under PSA, passed away this afternoon.

Sehrai was born in 1944 in Tekipora village of Lolab Valley in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. He completed his primary education in his hometown Tekipora and secondary education from Sogam Lolab High School in 1959. After clearing secondary examination, he moved to Uttar Pradesh where he did Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Urdu from Aligarh Muslim University.

Sehrai became an affiliate of Syed Ali Shah Geelani in 1959 after being encouraged to do so by his elder brother. He has stated that he officially became a member as a “Rukun” of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1960. Sehrai was jailed for the first time in 1965 over anti-government activities.

In July 2020, separatist leader Ashraf Sehrai was arrested from his residence in Srinagar by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and was lodged at Udhampur Jail.

Ashraf Sehrai was elected as the chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, a constituent of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which was previously headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.