which made a deep impression upon him. He was to later say, Maududi had "beautifully.. expressed the feelings that lay deep down in my own heart". The National Conference headquarters, Mujahid Manzil, where Geelani apparently stayed, soon began to be seen as "a den of Pakistanis". Geelani was soon moved out of Srinagar, and he came to work in the Intermediate College in Sopore. He stayed in this position for six years. During this time, he was reading the literature of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir and conveying its contents to his students in lectures. He also addressed congregations in mosques. He had become a full-fledged member of Jamaat in 1952. Electoral politics Geelani entered into electoral politics ahead of the 1971 Indian general election. Geelani had claimed that the Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to use it as an opportunity to spread its ideology, keep the Kashmir issue in prominence and protect basic and fundamental rights of the people. Geelani contested as an independent candidate but lost to Syed Ahmed Aga, with the Jamaat alleging ballot rigging. He participated in the 1972 legislative assembly election from Sopore. He won from the seat in that year and again in the 1977 legislative assembly election. He was however defeated in the 1983 election due to the sympathy wave generated for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference by the death of Sheikh Abdullah. Geelani also contested the 1977 Indian general election as an independent candidate due to the banning of Jamaat in 1975, but lost to Abdul Ahad Vakil. In the 1987 legislative assembly election, Jamaat-e-Islami candidates including Geelani participated under a coalition of parties called the Muslim United Front (MUF). Geelani won the seat from Sopore. Geelani resigned as an MLA in August 1989 after the launch of Kashmir insugency. Separatist leader Geelani was viewed as a key separatist leader in Kashmir. Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, blamed Geelani for the rise in militancy and bloodshed in Kashmir, while his father and former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah urged Geelani to follow a path which would "save Kashmiri people from further destruction". He was one of the founding members of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an alliance of Kashmiri social and political organisations who supported a referendum for Kashmir, in 1993 and was the initial choice for the position of its chairman. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was however chosen instead due to the secular