Mehmood Ahmed Saghar salutes Shabir Ahmed Shah for scripting a new history of resistance

ISLAMABAD, July 20 (SABAH): Convener All Parties Hurriyat Conference and acting chairman Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Mehmood Ahmed Saghar has saluted the party Chairman Shabir Ahmed Shah on the completion of 37 years of his life in prison and seven consecutive years of captivity in Tihar jail.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, while highlighting the incarcerated party chairman’s indomitable role in the Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle, said, “Shabir Ahmed Shah, who was forced to spend most of his life in jails and detention centers has become an icon of resistance”.

He said that in 70 years of his life Shah Sahib had to spend 36 years in prisons, detention and interrogation centers within and outside the Kashmir valley because of his political beliefs.

Mehmood Ahmed Saghar said that being a strong proponent of Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, Shah has always sought a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions. He said that Shah had never accepted India’s forcible control on Kashmir and he never changed that ideology.

Hailing his perseverance and steadfastness, the APHC convener said that Shabir Shah had chosen the path of struggle as his way of living and he was steadfastly writing a new history of political resistance. He said that it was unfortunate that the DFP chief was being punished for his political beliefs and because of his peerless contribution in the ongoing struggle.

Voicing his serious concern over Shah’s illegal and continued imprisonment, he said that Shah was being punished for his unflinching stance on the issue of Kashmir. Hailing the party chairman’s commitment and life-long struggle for the Kashmiris’ just cause, Saghar said, “Despite suffering from multiple acute ailments, Shah Sahib stands firm and undeterred on his stance while enduring an unendurable life in prison”. “We salute his patience, perseverance and determination”, he said.

Saghar lamented that the jail authorities were not providing him with the necessary medical facilities which Shah needs urgently.He said the health condition of Shah had deteriorated in the prison during the past six years.

Urging world human rights bodies to take effective notice of the matter, he said that human rights defenders should play their due role to ensure the safety and early release of Shah and other Kashmiri prisoners languishing in different jails.

While terming Shah’s illegal detention as sheer vengeance, he said that Shah was being victimized for his unprecedented role in the Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle for the right to self-determination.

“Shah Sahib faced detentions and had to spend more than half of his life in Indian jails because of his political ideology. Indian secret agencies have been booking him under fake charges since 1968 but not a single allegation has been proved in any court of law”, Saghar said. “Six years have passed since he (Shah) was illegally arrested by the NIA authorities from Srinagar but the dreaded agency that has been let loose on Kashmiris has badly failed in proving a single allegation against him, so far”, the DFP leader said. Saghar, while lauding Shah’s political will and steadfastness, said that mean tactics meant to linger on his detention won’t help Indians to break his political will.

Saghar urged the influenced world governments to use their political and diplomatic clout to help stop persecution of the Kashmir political prisoners.