Srinagar, Dec 14 (KNS): Hurriyat Conference (M) expressed serious concern over the plight of Kashmiri prisoners lodged in different jails of Indian states stating majority of the Kashmiri political prisoners are deprived of the basic facilities including medical aid which is a serious cause of concern. The Hurriyat said that the political prisoners booked by the NIA and ED under frivolous cases are being denied trial and their detention is being prolonged on one or the other pretext which reflects the pure political vendetta and posing a great threat to their lives.
In a statement issued to KNS, Hurriyat (M) spokesman said that female resistance leader Asiya Andrabi and her two aides, Fehmeeda Sofi and Nahida Nasreen who have been kept in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, amounts to playing with their lives as they are not even provided the basic medical aid.
Spokesman said that Asiya is already suffering from multiple ailments and her continuous detention would result in a threat to life for which entire blame will lie on the government of India in case something untoward happens to her.
Spokesman said that NIA without producing any concrete evidence against Asiya is prolonging her detention on the pretext of deferment of court hearings one after another.
Spokesman said that similar procedure has been adopted by the NIA and ED for the leaders they have arrested that include Shabir Ahmed Shah, Advocate Shahidul Islam, Altaf Fantosh, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehrajudin Kalwal, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Shahid Yousuf, businessman Zahoor Watali, who are languishing in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since past more than one year. He said that the investigating agencies have failed to prove any substantial evidence against the resistance leaders and instead follows the sheer political vendetta by prolonging their confinement.
Spokesman said recently while bypassing the Supreme Court direction in which it was directed that prisoners be lodged in their home states only, more than two dozen prisoners were shifted to outside state jails which include Ghulam Muahammad Khan Sopori, Mushtaqul Islam, Feroz Ahmed Khan, Basharat Ahmed Mir, Lateef Ahmed Rather, Manzoor Ahmed Najar, Showkat Ahmed Ganai, Ghulam Hassan Shah, Manzoor Ahmed Ganai, Imtiyaz Ahmed Dar, Abdul Majeed Mir, Naseer Ahmed Sheikh, Amir Aziz Lone,Irfan Ahmed Lone, Zafarul Islam Shah, Imtiyaz Ahmed Mir, Farooq Ahmed Bhat, Bashir Ahmed Qureshi, Bashir Ahmed Dar, Muhammad Shafi Dar, Khurshid Ahmed Parray, Firdous Ahmed Parray and Shakeel Ahmed Thokar. He said all these prisoners were shifted to outside the State jails in a blatant violation of Indian Supreme Court guidelines that lay stress to keep the prisoners lodged in their home states only.
He said that by shifting these prisoners far from their homes, has added more trouble to their family members who can’t afford to travel to the prisoners outside the states to see the faces of their loved ones.
The spokesman urged the world bodies and human rights organizations to take the serious note of the plight of Kashmiri prisoners. He urged the Human Rights Watch, ICRC, Amnesty international to visit various jails including Tihar, Kotbalwal, Udhampur, Hiranagar, and other jails to take firsthand account of the prisoner’s plight and to build pressure on GoI to release all the political prisoners. (KNS)