SRI NAGAR: The increased political activities of senior separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has led to speculation that he might be joining the mainstream camp.
Bilal Gani Lone, who is the executive member of Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has been meeting the people of his home town Kupwara district in north Kashmir to re-activate the workers of his party.
Bilal heads the J&K Peoples Independent Movement (JKPIM). Unlike his brother and Peoples Conference chairman and former minister Sajjad Gani Lone , who was detained after Article 370 revocation, Bilal was a free man and no restrictions were imposed on his movement. Before Article 370 revocation, authorities used to place Bilal under house arrest at his Sanat Nagar residence while his brother Sajad used to be a free man.
Bilal’s security cover, along with those of other separatist leaders, was withdrawn by the government earlier following the February 14, 2019 suicide attack on a CRPF bus at Lethpora, Pulwama, in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed. After lying low for nearly three years, Bilal has now again become politically active and is reaching out to his workers.