Pakistan’s Senate on July 27 passed a resolution asking the government to confer the country’s highest civilian honour–Nishan-e-Pakistan – on Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The upper house of Pakistan's parliament also urged the Imran Khan government to name a proposed university in Islamabad after Geelani.
The 90-year-old, who has been under house arrest, last month stepped down as the “chairman for life” of the Kashmiri separatist grouping All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
The resolution also called for Geelani’s life story to be included in the school curriculum.
Also read: Who is Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and why is his resignation from Hurriyat Conference significant?
Geelani is perhaps the most well-known and prominent separatist leader in the Valley.
The government accuses Geelani of being close to Pakistan and taking instructions from across the border. Geelani has often said that Pakistan supported the "indigenous struggle" of the people of Jammu and Kashmir "morally, diplomatically and politically".
