Yasin Malik goes on hunger strike against inappropriate & insufficient medical facilities in Tihar Jail: JKLF Spokesperson

ISLAMABAD, Nov 02 (SABAH): The incarcerated Chairman Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Muhammad Yasin Malik in custody has once again started an indefinite hunger strike from Friday, 1st November against the inappropriate and insufficient medical facilities provided to him by the Delhi Tihar Jail authorities. Illegally imprisoned and the most favorite pro-independence political leader of Jammu Kashmir has been the worst victim of political vendetta by Narendra Modi led an extremist and fascist government of India.

This was stated by the chief spokesman of JKLF Muhammad Rafiq Dar in a statement issued on Saturday from the party’s central information office.

According to the statement the spokesman said that a person like Yasin Malik who believes in nonviolent peaceful struggle for the cause of national liberation of his motherland Jammu Kashmir, and who not only supported but promoted dialogue process for its resolution, can in no way be victimized for his political belief. Peaceful political struggle and asking for the right to self-determination of the people of the State of Jammu Kashmir supported overwhelmingly by the masses, can in no way be treated and taken as a crime to be dealt with inhumanely and undemocratically, he explained.

Muhammad Rafiq Dar said that it is worth mentioning here that the incarcerated JKLF Chairman Mr. Muhammad Yasin Malik is a chronic heart patient. After diagnosing a severe Aortic Heart Valve disease, his valve was replaced with a metallic Heart Valve during a surgery in 1992 and his surgeons put him on lifelong anticoagulant and advised regular INR test to keep vigil at the functioning of his heart, blood coagulation process etc. He has suffered a facial nerve paralysis in 1990 which is still active, left hydronephrosis in 2016 and for the past 25 years now he is suffering with intermittent Coagulopathy along with recurrent renal stones and renal cortical cyst for which he had to go through five different surgeries during the last twenty years, the spokesman said.

Ailing Muhammad Yasin Malik, despite court orders of relevant petitions filed by his family in the recent past and the numerous verbal assurances, especially the assurance given recently while ending his last protest in jail, just two months ago, has not been provide with proper and necessary medical treatment based on his renewed medical examinations, the spokesman informed. He said that this deliberate negligence by Tihar jail authorities has put the precious life of the most popular pro-freedom people’s political leader in extreme danger.

The Indian rulers, Indian political leadership, the judiciary and the security agencies along with the Indian civil society are well aware of his peaceful political struggle and sacrifices Yasin Malik has gone through in promoting non-violence but petty political and economic interests, and at times their uncalled for bias is stopping them from speaking the truth and providing justice to this epitome of steadfastness, sacrifices, promoter of non-violence and the people’s representative, the statement read.

The spokesman while expressing his grave concern over the deteriorating health condition of Yasin Malik in jail said that the deprivation of proper medical care to a towering political prisoner of his stature by government of India is a serious human rights violation that need to be taken a serious note of by the world bodies especially the human rights organization and the human rights defenders. Rafiq Dar in his statement made an appeal to the world leaders, human rights organizations and saner elements in India to intervene in saving the precious life of Yasin Malik.

JKLF leadership especially Raja Haq Nawaz Khan (Acting Chairman), Hafiz M. Anwar Samavi (Vice Chairman), Saleem Haroon (Vice Chairman), Khawaja Saifudin (Vice Chairman), Sardar Zahid Hussain (Vice Chairman), Prof. Raja Zafar Khan (Head of Diplomatic Bureau), Sabir Gul (Central Chief Organizer), Khawaja Manzoor A. Chishti (Central Sec. Finance), Javed Hanif (Central Dy. Sec. Gen), Sardar M. Anwar (Central Dy. Chief Organizer), Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed (Central Dy. Sec. Finance) and Zonal presidents including Sajid Mehmood (AJK-GB), Liaqat Ali Lone (UK), M. Haleem Khan (USA), Malik Mushtaq Pasha (Europe) and Waseem Iftikhar Durrani (Middle East) has warned government of India of dire consequences if any untoward incident happens with Yasin Malik, and demanded government of India to accept his just demand of proper and sufficient medical care that as a prisoner he is entitled to..

Muhammad Rafiq Dar on behalf of the entire party leadership has appealed to the entire Kashmiri nation living across the ceasefire line of the State of Jammu Kashmir and abroad including Yasin Malik’s friends and well-wishers spread worldwide to pray for his early release and speedy recovery. The spokesman further said that the party leadership is keeping a close vigil on the situation for future strategy to follow.