New Delhi directs Indian-controlled Kashmir gov't to pursue cases against released separatist

The Indian federal government Thursday said it has asked the local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir to vigorously pursue criminal cases registered against the recently released separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat.

Bhat who has 27 cases registered against him has been granted bail by local courts.

His release from prison last week triggered a political row and stirred the Indian parliament.

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an advisory to the region's government on Bhat.

"All 27 cases against Alam should be rigorously pursued and the government should take steps to challenge bail to him in those cases," Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Indian parliament. "A close surveillance must be ensured on disruptive activities of Masarat Alam, his associates and followers."

The Narendra Modi-led government initially said that they were not consulted by the local government on Bhat's release.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which heads a coalition government with pro-India Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the restive region blamed Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed for his release.

However, government communications subsequently revealed that Sayeed had no direct role in Bhat's release, as his detention period had ended during Governor N N Vohra's rule.

Bhat, a hard-line protest leader was released last week after four years of his arrest under a preventive detention law. Bhat was on the forefront of 2010 anti-India protests in the region.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule has been going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their Independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Endi