Hurriyat leaders from both sides of the Line of Control have expressed grave concern over deteriorating health condition of illegally detained APHC leader Altaf Ahmad Shah, currently lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
APHC leader Muhammad Yousuf Naqash in a statement issued in Srinagar appealed to the international community to urgently intervene for the release of cancer patient Altaf Shah from Indian jail so that his family can treat him without any delay or difficulty.
He said, “India is involved in fake encounters, extrajudicial killings of innocent Kashmiris, economic terrorism like heinous crimes in Kashmir.” He criticized Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to occupied Kashmir and named the visit as “Kashmir grabbing” spree. He said the dream of Amit Shah and his local collaborators will never be fulfilled by grabbing the lands of Kashmiris, assaulting our civilization, cultural identity and religious values.
APHC-AJK Convener Mehmood Ahmed Saghar in a statement in Islamabad said that Altaf Shah who was arrested by NIA authorities in a false case five years back was subjugated to the worst treatment in Tihar Jail that has led to deterioration of his health. Terming it a deliberate attempt to play with the life of the jailed leader, he said, Shah was being victimized and punished for his political beliefs. He lamented that the jail authorities failed to provide timely medical care to Altaf Ahmed Shah
Urging international human rights organizations to play their role in release the early release of Altaf Ahmed Shah, Saghar said that the APHC leader needs medical treatment at urgent basis.
Former APHC-AJK Convener Muhammad Farooq Rehmani while making demand for Altaf Shah’s immediate release from the detention deplored that leaders of the Hurriyat Conference were suffering with multiple diseases for want of health facilities due to their long detention and fabricated criminal cases.
Similarly, thousands of youth, he said were rotting in different jails of India under inhuman and tyrannical state of affairs due to the BJP rule of fascism and fanaticism. —KMS
