New Delhi: Chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who underwent a surgery in Mumbai, has officially been denied visa by the United States, according to news agency PTI.
Geelani, who is suffering from cancer in the kidney, was supposed to travel to America to undergo treatment using laser therapy.
However, his family was told that by the US consulate in Mumbai that Geelani was barred from visiting the country.
When contacted, a US Embassy spokesperson told PTI that Geelani's request for visa was turned down.
Asked on what grounds his visa request was denied, the spokesperson said under US laws, information about visa application was confidential but "Geelani has consistently
failed to renounce violence as means of achieving his political goal in Kashmir."
“US supports India and Pakistan's ongoing discussions on how to resolve important bilateral issues including the question of Kashmir,” PTI quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to enable the ailing leader to go abroad for medical treatment, Geelani, whose passport was impounded in 1981, was given a fresh one on March 8.
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