ISLAMABAD Hurriyat leader and President of Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM), Altaf Ahmed Butt, expressing concern over the plight of Kashmiri political detainees has demanded their immediate unconditional release. Altaf Ahmad Butt in a statement issued in Islamabad noting the poor hygiene and lack of medical facilities in Indian jails said that detainees and jails staff, who live in confined spaces, remain extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. He also showed concern over the rapid increase of coronavirus cases and said that Indian prisons were highly prone to the disease because of 117% of occupancy rate, precarious hygienic conditions and inadequate health services. The JKSM President thanked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his call for a very close look at the continued confinement of Kashmiri prisoners in occupied Kashmir amid growing cases of the deadly virus. He also mentioned the joint statement by six human rights organizations in which they showed their concern about the plight of Kashmiri detainees. Altaf Ahmed Butt said that the fascist Indian government had introduced a new domicile law to change the demography of occupied Kashmir. He also demanded the release of illegally detained Hurriyat leaders including party Chairman, Zafar Akbar Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Masarrat Alam Butt and Dr Hameed Fayyaz who are languishing in different jails of India and occupied Kashmir.—KMS