BJP Indian govt deliberately prolonging detention of Kashmiri leadership to victimize them for their political beliefs: APHC

SRINAGAR, March 30 (SABAH): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has expressed deep concern over the continued unlawful detention of thousands of Kashmiris who have been languishing in jails for opposing India’s illegal occupation of their homeland.

APHC Spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement in Srinagar said that the Hindutva-inspired BJP Indian government and its regime in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is deliberately prolonging the detention of Kashmiri leadership and other prisoners to victimize them for their political beliefs.

The statement said the regime has arrested thousands of Kashmiris including youth and women in the occupied territory since its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and thereafter. Among those who are languishing in jails in India and IIOJK include APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Aasiya Andrabi, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Merajudin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Molvi Bashir Ahmed, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Bilal Siddiqi and Dr Hamid Fayaz.

The APHC leadership urged the international human rights organizations to play their role in the early release of the Kashmiri detainees. Demonstrating the worst form of political vendetta, the APHC maintained India is denying space to Hurriyat leaders by repeatedly arresting them on fake charges.

He lamented that the Kashmiri prisoners are confined to cells and denied adequate food and proper medical treatment in Indian jails and as a result the families of these detainees are worried about their well-being. The height of oppression, the statement said, is that the family members of most of the inmates are even denied meetings with them.

The APHC also paid glowing tributes to renowned liberation leader Ashfaq Majid Wani who was martyred on this day in 1990 along with other activists in Srinagar. He said that Ashfaq Majeed Wani was a beacon of light for the freedom movement of Kashmir, who will always guide the freedom-loving Kashmiris and will show them determination and courage against oppression by India.

APHC noted India is flouting Geneva Convention on prisoners’ rights by not only prolonging unlawful detentions but also making more and more arrests and carrying out extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians in IIOJK to pressurize them and break their resolve for freedom. However, the statement added, these repressive tactics will not deter the people of the occupied territory from pursuing their struggle for right to self-determination.

He urged the international community and global human rights organizations to take note of unlawful detentions in IIOJK and raise their voice for the release of illegally detained Kashmiris.