Syed Ali Shah Geelani (1929–2021) was an Islamist,pro-Pakistan,jihadistKashmiri separatist leader in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,regarded as the father of the Kashmiri jihad.He was a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir between 1953 and 2004, and regarded as one of its top leaders. He left Jamaat in 2004 and founded Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, which became the leading organisation in a separate "Geelani faction" of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). Geelani served as the chairman of this faction until he quit it in June 2020.Geelani was also a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Sopore constituency, elected on a Jamaat-e-Islami ticket in 1972, 1977 and in 1987.