Srinagar: Nov 17 (KNS): Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohd Ashraf Sehraie, expressed his deep pain and concern over the prolonged detention of Kashmiri political leaders, activists and youths and said, "A person cannot be held in continued detention without a reason for long".
While expressing his grave concern about India’s unabated use of administrative detention where hundreds of Kashmiris have been held under "administrative detention', without being charged or even told what crimes they are suspected of having committed, Sehraie in a statement issued to KNS added that despite India being a signatory to the "Geneva Convention on political prisoners is in breach of its international obligations by excessively relying on administrative detention.
“India imprisons people for committing politically motivated offenses, defining them as criminals or threat to state and never does formally acknowledge holding “political prisoners” within its prison system,” he said.
Sehraie said, “The draconian laws like PSA and AFSPA are invariably invoked to deny freedom of expression and freedom of demand of Birth Right (RSD). Indian administration is practicing all the methods of coercion, oppression and arm twisting to crush the people’s resistance but let me reiterate and convey to Indian establishment that the people of Kashmir and their sentiment cannot be crushed down by state-terrorism, jailing or brute force.”
He demanded the release of political prisoners implicated in different concocted cases and shifting of political prisoners outside state on the basis of mere ‘political vendetta’ and “putting hundreds into prison including those who had been arrested before conducting sham elections.”
Meanwhile, Sehraie strongly condemned the shifting of 75-year-old Hurriyat leader Gh. Mohammad Khan Sopori from Kotbalwal jail to Haryana jail and called it “outrageous and utmost hearted bent of mindset towards the Kashmiris”.
“Caging and confining senior resistance leader at this age is clearly indicated that forces lost its war in Kashmir and authorities in order to shifting him to outside the state vandalized its own supreme court ruling as for as prisoners rights and confinement is concerned,” he said.
Sehraie appealed to international community and international human rights organizations to come forward and raise their voice for the suffering humanity.
“The long festering tragedy of Kashmiris demands determined action by the international community. And Peace cannot be built when injustice prevails,” he said.
Referring to the panchayat polls, Sehraie said that, “for the people of Kashmir ‘holding of elections whether panchayat or Indian parliament has no relevance and value infact a mere eyewash and a means to hoodwink world community that things are under control when the fact of the matter is Kashmir dispute is today ‘more alive, more urgent and more dangerous than ever.”
Sehrai reiterated that Right of self-determination is the “most democratic and simple way to resolve the Kashmir issue.” (KNS)