Srinagar, June 10 (KNS): The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) on Friday condemned the continuous house detention of its incarcerated chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah.
In a statement issued to KNS, a DFP spokesperson said the party which used to champion for the ‘battle of ideas’ and ‘freedom of expression’ after coming to power chose the same path as its predecessors. “This party (PDP) used to make hue and cry over the restrictions on resistance leadership and after receiving power in charity from New Delhi surpassed the records of its predecessors,” he said.
The spokesperson strongly criticised the administration for converting the state into a virtual jail and said the government instead of facing the resistance leadership on political front is resorting to anti-people acts with the might of police and forces.
“It is shameful and cowardice that the election drama is being staged here while the resistance leadership is caged and prevented from expressing their views before the people.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelThis clearly implies that the government has accepted defeat before the resistance leadership of the state,” he said.
Giving details of Shabir Ahmad Shah’s detention, the spokesperson said, “Since Shah Sahib was released from jail in 2011, he has been under arrest or house detention for a period of 33 months and 6 days. During this time, he has been barred from offering 199 Friday and 9 Eid prayers. During 2015, he was detained for 361 days and prevented from offering 48 Eid prayers. Similarly, he continues to be under house detention this year and was lodged in police station Rajbagh for about two months.”
The Freedom Party spokesperson termed the unjustified detention of resistance leadership and use of black laws upon them as “frustration” of rulers. “The continuous house detention of Syed Ali Geelani and Shabir Ahmad Shah is unjustified. This is lawlessness,” he said. (KNS)