Immediately after the elections, Geelani raised the issue of these proxy candidates put up by the People’s Conference, and felt that it let down the Hurriyat in the eyes of the people. A major row erupted in the Hurriyat following these accusations by Geelani, who went a step further by demanding the expulsion of the PC for its actions. Geelani refused to back down from his demands and stopped attending the Hurriyat meetings, sending some other representatives of the Jamaat.

The Hurriyat was in no position to reprimand either party, Geelani or Lone, for a variety of reasons. Geelani, an old hand, was a charismatic leader of the Hurriyat who commanded great support, and represented of one of the largest constituents of the Hurriyat, the Jamaat-e-Islami in the Hurriyat’s Executive Body. Lone, on the other hand, was riding on a popularity wave, and the Hurriyat, with its depleting support in the current scenario could not afford to alienate Lone, or his sympathizers. This stalemate caused considerable anxiety to various leaders of the conglomerate, which continues. Geelani still insists that the PC be expelled, and has voiced his demands in public meetings.

In the meantime, the election of a new Chairman for the Hurriyat offered a ray of hope but the Jamaat represented by Geelani refused to attend the Hurriyat meetings, saying that with its own internal elections round the corner, it could not send its representative. It asked the Hurriyat to delay the election of a new Chairman. Meanwhile, the war of words between Geelani and Lone continued. The chief of Jamaat-e-Islami did not come out as strongly in Geelani’s favor as Geelani would have wanted in the public confrontation. The Hurriyat seemed to be heading for a split, with Geelani trying to break away or at least, play a “who-will-blink-first” game with the Hurriyat.

Already rejected by his party, Geelani was to face another setback from the Hurriyat leaders went ahead with electing a new Chairman, without any representative present from the Jamaat. This proved to be the proverbial last straw. In a public rally held for Geelani in his hometown of Sopore, he lashed out at both the Jamaat and the Hurriyat and made public his intention to launch a new party, independent of both the Jamaat and the Hurriyat. In the rally and a subsequent interview, Geelani went on to openly criticize the Jamaat and the Hurriyat. While criticism of the Hurriyat was expected, Geelani had refrained from attacking his mother organization, from whose cadres he drew support. However, having facing rejection of his hard-line stance, and presumably under pressure from Pakistan to display his mass support, Geelani was pushed to the wall. He had come too far ahead to even contemplate turning back or withdrawing his demands. He must have realized that indecision would definitely have led to him being written off. To prove that he remains a force to reckon with in Kashmiri politics, the hard-liner was left with no option but to further harden his stance.

In this same speech widely reported in the Kashmiri media on July 18, 2003, Geelani highlighted the other problems facing the Hurriyat. He claimed that people were no longer satisfied with the work of the Hurriyat and went on to say that Jamaat was losing its credibility by being part of the Hurriyat. He lambasted the Jamaat for failing to take over the reigns of the ongoing struggle, making a veiled reference to their decision not to stand behind his demands. According to him, most of the Hurriyat constituents were ideologically confused. This, as many other critics of the APHC have pointed out, was one of the factors for the Hurriyat’s decline, as lack of ideological clarity makes them appear to be opportunists.

Geelani pointed out that many people within and outside the Hurriyat had been disillusioned by the organization, and his new party would seek to collect these people under the same umbrella. Envisaging that his party would be working without the support of any other group, Geelani implicitly criticized the Hurriyat for being influenced by pro-Indian forces. This scathing attack reflects the beliefs in the Pakistani camp, which is worried about the split in the Hurriyat, which would benefit pro-Indian forces by giving them more political space.

Geelani’s remarks are understood to be veiled warnings to the Hurriyat from Pakistan to return to its fold, which is why, Geelani offered to bring his break-away party that he was forming back into the Hurriyat fold, if  “Hurriyat’s performance at some stage comes up to the mark”. Geelani realized that a split in the Hurriyat would undermine the ongoing struggle, also bringing into political prominence the Mufti government, which had made the Hurriyat irrelevant. His bosses in Pakistan would not be pleased with any split at this crucial stage of the struggle, when most Kashmiris seem ready for a change. However, the Hurriyat leadership was not willing to change its stance, pushing Geelani to the brink.