Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, International forum for justice and Human Rights JK Wednesday criticised the Jammu and Kashmir Legal Services Authority (JKLSA) for not considering the political prisoners of Kashmir, for the release on parole and said that the COVID pandemic does not differentiate on the basis of ideologies.
The IFJHRJK Chairperson, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo in a statement in Srinagar said JKLSA has passed on directions for the release of prisoners and under-trails but has not uttered a word on the release of the political prisoners.
He said that the Supreme Court of India had directed the authorities to consider the release of prisoners on parole to decongest the prisons amid second wave of coronavirus pandemic.
Untoo said scores of Kashmiri political prisoners remain detained in jails of IIOJK and India but the authorities have not considered their release on parole which is a matter of serious concern.
He said “we had been insisting upon the authorities to release political prisoners but they have not done so”.
Untoo said this has led to increase in apprehensions of the families whose kith and kin are in jails across the occupied territory and India as majority of the jails are overcrowded and there is a maximum chance of them contracting the virus.
Untoo said that Kashmir has already lost one of its towering political personality in Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai who died in custody.
He said last year also a Kupwara resident Ghulam Muhammad butt died in prison while yesterday only a non-local prisoner died in Pulwama jail. He said this has furthered the anxiety of the families.
Untoo said that Shahid-ul-Islam, a Kashmiri political prisoner, has already been infected by the deadly virus in Tihar Jail.
This has depressed the whole family of Shahid and his teenage daughters. Besides, the women’s ward of Tihar Jail has become a breeding ground for the virus thereby making the Kashmiri women prisoners vulnerable.
Untoo said that Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi and others are detained in the women’s ward.
God forbid, if they get infected it will be disastrous since all of the three are comorbid patients and catching the virus will endanger their lives.
Untoo urged the Indian government to follow the directions of the Supreme Court and not to discriminate on the basis of ideology while considering the prisoners for the release on parole.—KMS
