NEW DELHI: In a development being viewed as a potential generational and ideological shift in Jammu and Kashmir’s politics, Ruwa Altaf Shah , granddaughter of the late hardline separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is reportedly considering joining the mainstream politics and may likely join Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Sources close to her and the PDP say talks are underway, though there is no official confirmation yet from Ruwa Shah on whether or when she will formally join.
PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has publicly welcomed the possibility. Speaking to Zee News she said: “She is like my daughter; PDP doors are open if she wishes to join us, she is welcome”
NC too had welcomed the development said if such sense had prevailed earlier, we should not have seen such situations here.
Showkat Mir NC Provisional president said “I have no knowledge about that. But if a separatist leader’s granddaughter is entering the mainstream in this manner, that is a very good thing. If only we had this sense earlier, then all the bloodshed that took place, our sisters becoming widows, our children becoming orphans, all that bloodshed would not have happened. Well, better late than never.”
The move is seen by BJP as an eye opener for the youth of Jammu Kashmir and BJP alleges that PDP and Hurriyat are on same paths we have been telling this earlier also and now it’s proven as Ruwa Shah chooses only PDP.
BJP Jammu and Kashmir unit spokesman Altaf Thakur said “We used to say before that PDP and Hurriyat are the same. Now, Gilani’s granddaughter is going to contest elections carrying the PDP banner, or is joining PDP, it doesn’t make any difference. But this should be an eye-opener for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, for the children of Jammu and Kashmir, that the man who got thousands of Kashmiri children killed today his daughter is joining PDP.
Ruwa Shah is the daughter of the late Altaf Ahmad Shah popularly known as Fantoosh, a close associate of Geelani and his son-in-law, who died in 2021 while in custody in a terror-funding case.
Her reported interest in mainstream politics follows a clear public break from the family’s separatist legacy. In March 2024, Ruwa published a public notice in a local newspaper declaring that she had “no connection or affiliation with the Hurriyat Conference” faction founded by her grandfather, and that she had “no inclination or sympathy towards its ideology.” She affirmed: “I am a loyal citizen of India not affiliated with any organization or association which has an agenda against the Union of India, and I owe allegiance to the Constitution of my country (India).”
Around the same time, Sama Shabir, elder daughter of jailed separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, issued a nearly identical notice distancing herself from her father’s banned Democratic Freedom Party and pledging loyalty to India. The twin declarations were widely reported as a rare public disavowal by the younger generation of prominent separatist families.
Political observers see Ruwa’s possible entry into the PDP as adding a new dimension to Kashmir’s evolving landscape, particularly when mainstream parties are busy to build their base stronger in the post-Article 370 era.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani who was one of the most prominent and uncompromising faces of the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir for decades. Gillani had emerged as a hardline pro-Pakistan voice.
Ruwa Shah’s public rejection of that ideology in 2024, followed by reports of her possible entry into a mainstream party such as the PDP in 2026, is being described by some as a symbolic generational shift. Whether and when she formally joins remains to be seen, but the invitation from Mehbooba Mufti and the ongoing discussions have already drawn significant attention in political circles in Jammu and Kashmir.
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