Srinagar
The story of the recently-released former puppet minister of occupied Kashmir, Nayeem Akhtar, from Indian jail speaks volumes about how Narendra Modi’s fascist government will be treating ordinary Kashmiris when it treats New Delhi’s own stooges from the occupied territory in such a disgusting way.
Divulging details days after being released from custody, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senior leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar in a media interview in Srinagar said, “I was asked to sign the bond many times. I was, in fact, the first person among the detainees who was approached for it in September last year itself.”
He said, he was repeatedly visited by government representatives and intelligence officials during his captivity in jails. “They persuaded me to … sign a bond saying that I would not indulge in any political activity after being released,” Akhtar said. “I was asked to quit politics to walk free, evade harrying and live a comfortable life with my family.”
A onetime close-confidante of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Akhtar had sought premature retirement from government services in 2008 to join the PDP. “I was asked to sign the bond many times. I was, in fact, the first person among the detainees who was approached for it in September last year itself. They told me that since I’m facing several health issues it would be better for me to come out of the jail and go home,” he said.
The 69-year-old politician was released last week. After he was placed under house arrest, he was visited by two officials of the estates department at 11am on Thursday, ‘asking him to vacate his government accommodation in five hours or face forcible eviction’.
Currently living at his sister’s place and planning to shift to a rented accommodation, Akhtar said he was asked to sign a “horribly worded” bond in detention. “I don’t think that people even in an autocracy would be asked to sign such a bond,” Akhtar said who was shifted from a city hotel to Srinagar’s MLAs hostel, also declared a subsidiary jail.
He said he was again visited by some officials who told him that considering his age and failing health, the government was willing to set him free on the condition that he agreed to retire from politics.—KMS
