Srinagar
In occupied Kashmir, the authorities are inventing lame excuses to prolong the illegal detention of the High Court Bar Association President, Mian Abdul Qayoom.
Indian police had arrested Mian Abdul Qayoom, last year, days after Modi government revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir on August 05 and placed the territory under military siege. He was booked under draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA), and shifted to Agra central jail in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He was later moved to New Delhi’s infamous Tihar jail after he suffered a severe heart attack in Agra prison.
The occupation authorities have now informed the High Court that the High Powered Committee constituted to review the detention of prisoners in view of coronavirus outbreak has taken a view that the release of the detainees booked under PSA is not covered in the guidelines issued by the Indian Supreme Court. The High Powered Committee was formed on the directions of the Supreme Court of India.
The occupation authorities through counsel, B A Dar, informed the High Court that the request of the applicant for release of the detainee could not be considered.
Earlier, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mian Qayoom’s wife had filed a petition, seeking temporary release of her husband or shifting him from Tihar Jail to the detainee’s property at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi so that he could discharge his religious obligations.—KMS
