Sheikh Showkat Hussain: Difference between revisions

[[File:Sheikh Showkat Portrait.jpg|thumbnail|Sheikh Showkat Hussain]]

'''Sheikh Showkat Hussain''';<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/DrSheikhShowkatHussain |title=Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain |publisher=Facebook.com |date= |accessdate=8 May 2014}}</ref> born on 5 February 1954 is a [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri]] political analyst and a prominent scholar of human rights and [[international law]], he has authored several books on the [[Kashmir conflict]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/57025261/Kashmir-Palestine-In-the-Making-By-Dr-Sheikh-Showkat-Hussain |title=Kashmir-Palestine in the Making By Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain |publisher=Scribd.com |date=3 June 2011 |accessdate=8 May 2014}}</ref>

After his graduation he proceeded to [[Aligarh]] where he remained a proactive student. When he joined Aligarh Muslim University the University was in a severe crisis because government of India through an enactment of 1972 had deprived the University of its Muslim Character and was in process of erasing its cultural ethos. He valiantly fought against this campaign and was suspended from the University for opposing the cultural proselytisation of his alma mater. His activism transcended beyond the University in the form of his activities for the restoration of minority character of Aligarh Muslim University, preservation of Muslim personal law and restoration of [[Babri Masjid]] to Muslims. In this context he again remained in forefront of the campaign against the election of former Indian Prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]] in his constituency Ameti while the later was challenged by [[Raj Mohan Gandhi]], the grandson of [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{cn|date=July 2020}}

He was appointed as research associate, Institute of Objective Studies New Delhi (1987–1990) and later moved to Malaysia as assistant professor, International Islamic University Malaysia (1990–1995). While he was in Malaysia, Kashmir was experiencing extreme phase of insurgency against the Indian rule. He had a feeling that though there was a lot of activity against subjugation the resistance of Kashmir has not been articulated in a systematic way. This led him to leave Malaysia and come back to Kashmir where he tried to provide content to resistance through his writings in local dailies.  In 2000 he joined Department of Law, University of Kashmir. His academic pursuits didn't impede his contribution to Kashmir resistance in the form of his writings and oration. It was this activism on his part that landed him among those who were charged with sedition. Sheikh Showkat was charged for [[sedition]]<ref>{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/sedition-case-against-arundhati-others-condemned/article926908.ece |title=Sedition case against Arundhati, others condemned |publisher=The Hindu |date=2 December 2010 |accessdate=8 May 2014}}</ref> in Delhi along with several other prominent figure such as the Kashmiri leader [[Syed Ali Shah Geelani]], writer activist [[Arundhati Roy]], Prof. S.A.R Geelani, Sujato Bhadra, Varavara Rao and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, for making a speech at a convention titled "Azadi: The Only Way”. This action of the Indian state was condemned worldwide.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

Presently he works with School of Legal Studies at the Central University of Kashmir as an associate professor, he continues to teach international law and human rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.uok.edu.in/Showkat.aspx |title=Showkat |publisher=Law.uok.edu.in |date= |accessdate=8 May 2014}}</ref>