SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League, the High Court Bar Association, Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Shari Shian and Jammu and Kashmir Social Youth Forum have demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiris lodged in different jails in the wake of the fast spreading coronavirus pandemic. The JKML Acting Chairman, Farooq Ahmed Towheedi, in a statement issued in Srinagar said at a time when the coronavirus has affected several countries, causing killing of thousands of people across the world, the family members of the Kashmiri detainees were worried about their dear ones languishing in Indian jails hundreds and thousands miles away from their homes. He maintained that due to this pandemic, many countries including India have announced to release the detainees on humanitarian grounds and it is the right of Kashmiri prisoners to be set free. He called for immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders and activists including party Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Ayaz Muhammad Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Showkat Ahmed Bakhshi, Noor Muhammad Kalwal and Farooq Ahmed Dar. The High Court Bar Association of occupied Kashmir during a meeting of its executive members held in Srinagar today through teleconferencing said that the jails throughout India were mostly overcrowded and there was a potential threat to the lives of inmates, particularly those suffering from serious ailments. The members maintained it would be very prudent and appropriate for the authorities to release the Bar President Mian Abdul Qayoom and other Kashmiri detainees. The Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Sharie Shian’s Provincial President for Kashmir, Advocate Agha Syed Muntazir Mehdi, in a statement said when the whole world is rattled with deadly COVID-19 it becomes necessary to release the party President Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi AlSafvi, and Hurriyat forum Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who are under house arrest for past 7 months, and all other Kashmiri political prisoners lodged in different jails. The Jammu and Kashmir Social Youth Forum Chairman, Umar Aadil Dar, in a statement in Srinagar deplored that the Kashmiri detainees were subjected to ill-treatment by the Indian authorities under a policy of punishing them for opposing India’s illegal occupation of their homeland. On the other hand, the occupation authorities have extended the ban on 4G internet services across the territory till 3rd of April even as there has been a growing demand for restoration of the service in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Four more persons on Friday tested positive for the Coronavirus in Srinagar, taking the number of positive cases in the occupied territory to 31. Of them, one has lost his life.—KMS
