Masarat Alam is a Kashmiri separatist leader who was one of the organizers of the June 2010 anti-India protests in the Kashmir Valley.
He belongs to the muslim league known as Hurriyat Conference which is chaired by a well-known separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Masarat Alam protested to demilitarize Jammu & Kashmir citing human rights violations by the Indian Army.
However, the anti-National protests resulted in the deaths of 112 people and subsequently Masarat Alam was arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSU) in October 2010.
Initially, Masarat evaded arrest for four months during the civil unrest and previously under the detention more than 10 times under PSA. Even the police offered Rs 10 Lakh to anyone willing to provide information on his whereabouts.
The Hurriyat Hardliner is accused of inciting the Kashmir youths with fiery speeches at sensitive regions, which created clashes between them and the armed forces.
After PDP won the elections and took over the state under the coalition with BJP, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed demanded the police chief to release all the political prisoners since there were no criminal charges against them.
The opposition argues that Masarat would incite another violent protest in the disputed state.
Police sources also claimed that Mufti’s predecessor Omar Abdullah also tried to release Alam under the pre-condition to quit his anti-National activities. Eventually that idea was dropped after a severe opposition from his own state.
Masarat Alam was released on March 8 2015, which created major uproar in the Lok Sabha which made the Prime Minister denounce PDP government's decision and demand for clarification.