SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, Tehreeke-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir (TeH), led by Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, has expressed serious concern about the well-being of the illegally detained Kashmiris lodged in different Indian jails amid growing coronavirus pandemic. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat in a statement issued in Srinagar, today, said that thousands of families in occupied Kashmir were suffering due to the continued illegal detention of their loved ones. It said that hundreds of Kashmiris were arrested during 2015 and 2016 and lodged in different jails of the occupied territory. However, it added that since August 2019, thousands of more people including Hurriyat leaders, political activists, lawyers, traders and students were picked up from their homes on false charges and shifted to the Indian jails, hundreds and thousand miles away. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat demanded that these Kashmiri detainees should be brought back to occupied Kashmir on humanitarian grounds to save them from the potential threat of coronavirus. Jamia Masjid Srinagar ’s Anjuman Auqaf, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Grand Mufti of occupied Kashmir, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam, and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in their statements appealed to the people of the territory to take utmost precautionary measures to save themselves from the coronavirus pandemic, which has gripped the globe. The JKLF also appealed to the international human rights organizations to play their role in the early release of illegally detained Kashmiris including its C hai rma n, M u hamma d Ya si n Malik. Different segments of Kashmir society have said, the main question is that aren’t incarcerated common Kashmiris humans that they are not set free. They said, common Kashmiris welcome release of politicians like Omar Abdullah, but they want equal treatment of their loved ones in jails. “It is deplorable that the Indian rulers are ignoring calls of release of Kashmiris amid mounting concern over coronavirus pandemic. Global Human Rights groups have repeatedly raised concern about the condition of Kashmiri prisoners in Indian jails. Families of the detained Kashmiris are worried about their well-being,” they said. These segments of society said the release of Kashmiri political prisoners is a genuine demand amid spread of coronavirus in jails. However, Indian rulers are turning a blind eye to the pathetic condition of Kashmiri Hurriyat detainees and deliberately prolonging their unlawful detention for their political benefits, they added. They pointed out that India is practicing all methods of coercion, oppression and arm twisting to punish the Kashmiris for challenging its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. Several countries are releasing their prisoners, but India continues to imprison Kashmiris on fictitious charges, they said. India brazenly violating Geneva Convention on prisoners’ rights, however its cruel tactics would not be able to deter the Kashmiris to pursue their freedom, they added. Various segments of Kashmir society maintained that New Delhi must be taken to task for keeping thousands of Kashmiris in prisons on fake charges. “World institutions should press India to release Kashmiri prisoners amidst coronavirus scare. The global community must come to the rescue of illegally detained Kashmiri prisoners,” they added.—KMS