Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, as the situation created by COVID-19 worsens in India, Dr Bilquies Shah, the wife of illegally detained senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, has demanded release of all Kashmiri prisoners including her husband languishing in different Indian jails.
Dr Bilquies, who herself is a reputed doctor, wrote on her facebook page “High time to release my husband Shabbir Shah and all other Kashmiri prisoners lodged at Tihar and different jails across India. If not release at least shift them to J&K.”
Senior APHC leader and the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Shabbir Ahmed Shah, is undergoing detention at New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail since 2017 following his arrest by the India’s Enforcement Directorate from Srinagar in connection with a false case registered against him.
Besides Shabbir Shah, other Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders and activists like Muhammad Yasin Malik, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sufi, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Pir Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Shahid-ul-Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Syed Shahid Yousuf, Syed Shakeel Yousuf and Zahoor Ahmed Watali are also lodged in Tihar Jail.
The appeal of Dr Bilquies Shah has come at a time when reports suggest that lacs of people are getting affected by COVID-19 in India on daily basis.
The sharp increase in corona cases in India has put the lives of Kashmiri prisoners in high risk because of the fact that they remain far off from their homeland and are being denied the basic facilities.
Shabbir Shah, who has spent more than 33 years of his life in different Indian jails so far only because of his peculiar political ideology, is suffering from various ailments and his health is deteriorating after every passing day.
Reports suggest that dozens of other Kashmiri prisoners languishing in different jails of India are also suffering from different ailments and are not being treated properly.
Meanwhile, the DFP in a statement in Srinagar urged the world human rights organisations to play their role in the release of all Kashmiri prisoners including Shabbir Shah or their shifting to their homeland.—KMS
