Sajjad (top) and Geelani in Srinagar. (PTI)

Srinagar, Nov. 26: Top separatist leader Sajjad Ghani Lone today accused Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani of being “a liar, a killer and an ex-MLA who continues to take pension from India”.

Hours earlier, Geelani, at the forefront of the poll boycott campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, alleged that Sajjad, whose sister Shabnam is in the fray from Kupwara as an Independent candidate, was backing three proxy candidates there for the November 30 polls.

Sajjad, son of slain leader Abdul Ghani Lone and the leader of the People’s Conference, retaliated by vowing to quit politics if the allegations were proved true.

“I swear on the Quran that whatever Geelani has said is wrong. He has lied. I will quit politics if he proves his allegations or swears on the Quran they are true,” Sajjad told reporters today at his residence, hands on the Quran.

Similar allegations had split the Hurriyat into the moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and a hardline group led by Geelani during the 2002 polls. They buried the hatchet only during this year’s Amarnath agitation.

That reconciliation now appears brief.

“The fates of Shabnam and two other candidates, Ghulam Sofi and Sheikh Rasheed, hang on the votes of the People’s Conference in Kupwara. There is a dispute within our ranks which needs to be resolved,” said Geelani, who returned to Srinagar only yesterday after a month in Delhi. Kupwara is a stronghold of the People’s Conference

Sajjad said he had nothing to do with the candidates and had spoken to sister Shabnam only twice in 10 years.

Sajjad warned that the separatists’ boycott call would fail in Kupwara and blamed Geelani for the poor response. “The image of Geelani is very bad in Kupwara. If he tells people to boycott the polls there, they will vote. All my efforts to ensure a boycott there have gone waste.”

Sajjad said Yasir Reshi, nephew of Geelani’s confidant Shafi Reshi, was contesting as a People’s Democratic Party candidate from Sonawari. He claimed Shafi was “seen” at booths with Yasir recently.

Sajjad, under house arrest for the past month while other separatist leaders have been jailed, wondered how Geelani was allowed to address a news conference at home this morning. Sajjad was allowed to meet reporters later.

“Even I got a call (from the government) to address a conference today. I fail to understand this development,” Sajjad said.