Srinagar : There has been growing demand for releasing of Kashmiri prisoners in view of increasing coronavirus cases.
Hundreds of Kashmiri men are under detention in Kashmir and various jails outside the valley with families concerned over their safety. They were detained hours after Centre abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated J&K into two Union Territories on August 5.
Mohammad Altaf, who relative is lodged in Agra Jail said, “Our family is worried about my nephew who is in Agra Jail. All those who are detained in outside jails should be either shifted to Srinagar Jail or be released.”
Families of these detainees have also been expressing concern over the health of Kashmiri prisoners and how jails are prone to the pandemic. “We don’t know under what circumstances they are there. We appeal government to shift our children to Kashmir from outside jails,” a group of parents whose children are lodged in outside jails told Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
People detained since last year in Kashmir deserve to be released as their “incarceration” even in times of a global pandemic “undermines our democratic credentials”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti”s daughter Iltija Mufti said on Tuesday.
Iltija”s remarks came on a day her mother, who was detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), is being shifted to her official residence that has been converted into a subsidiary jail where she would continue to be in detention.
“All Kashmiris illegally detained since 5th August deserve freedom. Their continued incarceration even in times of a global pandemic undermines our democratic credentials. Nevertheless, I”d like to thank everyone for their support and good wishes,” Iltija wrote on her mother”s Twitter handle.
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday demanded that PDP president Mehbooba Mufti be set free, saying merely shifting her home while keeping her under detention was a cop out.
Mehbooba, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who has been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), was shifted from a make-shift jail to her ‘Fairview’ residence on Gupkar road here on Tuesday.
In a tweet, Omar said,”@MehboobaMufti must be set free. Shifting her home while continuing to keep her detained is a cop out”.
The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC) chief spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said the continued detention of Mehbooba, JKPC chairman Sajad Lone who is under house arrest and other mainstream politicians was “authoritarian”.
“The continued detention of @JKPC_ Chairman @sajadlone and @jkpdp President @MehboobaMufti and a number of senior mainstream leaders is authoritarian. They’ve been under detention for more than 8 months now- not allowed access to the media, to their colleagues and their relatives,” he said on Twitter.(KINS)
