In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, APHC leadership has expressed deep concern over the continued unlawful detention of thousands of Kashmiris who have been languishing in jails for expressing their dissent to India’s illegal occupation.
The APHC leadership in a statement in Srinagar said that the Modi regime is deliberately prolonging the detention of Kashmiri prisoners for their political beliefs. The leadership said that as part of its coercive policies, the Hindutva government of India has arrested thousands of civilians in the occupied territory since its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and thereafter. Among those who are languishing in jails in India and IIOJK include APHC Chairman Massrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Aasiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Merajudin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmed Dar , Molvi Bashir Ahmed, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Bilal Siddiqi, human rights defender Khuram Parvaiz, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Muhammad Shafi Khan, Ameer Hamza and Muhammad Yousuf Mir.
Demonstrating the worst form of political vendetta, the APHC leaders Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori and Muhammad Saleem Zargar maintained India is denying space to Hurriyat leaders by repeatedly arresting them on fake charges.
They lamented that the Kashmiri prisoners are confined to cells and denied adequate food and proper medical treatment in Indian jails and as a result the families of these detainees are worried about their well-being. The height of oppression, the leaders said, is that the family members of most of the inmates are even denied meetings with them.
The APHC leaders said the fascist Modi regime is turning a blind eye to the pathetic condition of the Kashmiri detainees and dilly dallying their release on one pretext or another despite court orders.
The leaders rued draconian laws like Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) are being used against the Hurriyat leaders and ordinary Kashmiris to force them into submission.
They noted India is flouting Geneva Convention on prisoners’ rights by not only prolonging unlawful detentions but also making more and more arrests and carrying out extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians in IIOJK to pressurize them and break their resolve for freedom. However, they added, these repressive tactics will not deter the people of the occupied territory from pursuing their struggle for right to self-determination.
They urged the international community and global human rights organizations to take note of unlawful detentions in IIOJK and raise their voice for the release of illegally detained Kashmiris.
