The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday allowed the first public funeral of a senior Hurriyat leader since 2019, with thousands joining the last rites of separatist leader Molvi Abbas Ansari, 86, who died here after prolonged illness.

Ansari, a prominent Shia cleric, was one of the executive leaders of the moderate Hurriyat Conference and served as its chairman for years. He was also the founder of the Ittihadul Muslimeen, an organisation that advocated unity between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Thousands who joined his funeral raised religious slogans and were seen holding placards and flags carrying religious messages. They avoided raising azaadi slogans.

Officials gave no reason for allowing Ansari’s public funeral although the government had on numerous occasions barred Muharram processions led by him or his supporters in the city.

Ansari is the third top separatist leader after Syed Ali Geelani and Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai to die of natural causes in the last two years, dealing a massive blow to their cause along with the complete ban on their activities since the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.

Sehrai died in prison. Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Shah, who was also ailing, died in Tihar jail this month. He belonged to the second tier of the separatist leadership.

The funerals of Geelani and Sehrai saw massive curbs to prevent a pro-aazadi spectacle. Shah’s funeral was held at night as his body arrived late from Delhi due to alleged obstacles put in the way of the family.

Separatist sources said Ansari’s moderate leanings could have been the reason for allowing his funeral. However, there was speculation that his funeral was allowed because he was a Shia. The government has been trying hard to woo the Shias among ethnic Kashmiris and non-Kashmiri groups like Gujjars and Paharis.

Ansari has dabbled in mainstream and Azaadi politics for decades.

In 2003, the Hurriyat split into moderate and hardline factions during Ansari’s chairmanship. He led the moderate faction while Geelani walked away with the hardline faction.

In 2004, Ansari, as chairman of Hurriyat, held the first meeting with the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The group later held several discussions with the then deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani.

A year later, Ansari was part of the group of separatists who travelled to Pakistan, through Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, which was launched that year by the Manmohan Singh government.