Srinagar: “Persecuting families of opponents is nothing but cowardice and spree of arrests and imposition of hardships on those in jails for holding a political view contrary to that of so-called rulers is despotism,” said the joint resistance leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Monday.
In a statement issued to GNS, JRL termed the ongoing spree of arrests and nocturnal raids as most undemocratic.
“From southern districts of Kashmir to northern districts and central Kashmir, a spree of arrests is going on unabated and thousands of young and old are being put behind bars and tortured physically and mentally,” JRL said adding that some months ago, DG Police issued a statement and urged upon warring parties to not involve families into their hostilities.
“Even JRL at that time echoed same assertions and urged everyone to spare families. But today, villages, towns and localities of Kashmir, especially in southern districts, are witnessing a reign of fresh arrests wherein family members of those in armed and political struggle are being arrested, tortured and humiliated by police, SOG and other occupational forces,” the leadership said.
JRL said that scores of family members of those in resistance have been arrested from Tral, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Bijbehara, Sonawari and other areas and are being “tortured, beaten and humiliated in lockups by police, SOG and other forces which is exactly opposite to the views expressed by DGP and is highly condemnable”.
JRL said that Kashmiris “abducted” by NIA and lodged at Tihar jail, Delhi are also facing “same torture”.
“Syeda Asiya Andrabi, Fahmida Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen who were recently shifted to this jail have been put into different cells where they are not even allowed to walk for some minutes. These ailing ladies are being provided eatables in polythene bags and their request to get some plastic plate or mug have been rejected by jail authorities,” JRL said.
“Similarly in other barracks where Shabir Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saif-u-ullah, Raja Meraj-u-Din Kalwal, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Zahoor Ahmad Watali, and Shahid Yousuf Shah, Muhammad Aslam Wani, Muzafar Ahmad Dar have been kept, water scarcity, lack of electricity in these hot months, lack of medicines and poor quality of food has made lives of inmates miserable,” they said, adding, “Likewise Kathua jail, Udhampur jail, Kot Bhalwal jail, Hira-Nagar jail, Srinagar central jail, Jammu Amphala jail and other jails have been turned into worst concentration camps where inmates are tortured, beaten, put in solitary confinements and humiliated at daily basis.”
JRL said that India being a signatory to the Geneva Convention on political prisoners has an obligation to respect the rights of prisoners but “as in case of other human rights, India has trampled this right too and is crushing Kashmiri inmates ruthlessly”.
“Thousands of young and old are these days being called to police stations, arrested and put behind bars. This is being done in the name of Independence Day of India which is actually ridiculous. As Eid ul Azha is approaching, this spree of arrests has taken an ugly turn and at a time when families of inmates are expecting the release of their dear ones, jails and police stations are being filled up with more and more Kashmiris,” they said.
“These inmates are rendering sacrifices for the sacred cause of freedom and self-determination and we want to assure them that the struggle for achieving our right to self-determination will continue till the goal is achieved,” JRL said.
The leadership urged the international community, human rights organizations like Amnesty International, ICRC and UN Human Rights Commission to take a strong note of these “atrocities” being committed upon Kashmiri prisoners.
“We will soon write letters to all these international bodies and seek their intervention in regard with Kashmiri inmates,” JRL said. (GNS)
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