Srinagar, January 22 (KNO) : Paying tributes to the militants who were killed in Hapatnar Budgam and Heff Shopian during encounters, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani on Tuesday reiterated that “the youth of Kashmir were forced to opt for gun as a reaction to the Indian military and forcible occupation of the state.”
Terming Kashmir as ‘a bone of contention between the two nuclear powers of the sub-continent’, Geelani as per a statement issued to KNO regretted that “the stubborn attitude of India regarding this globally accepted political dispute and dealing with it only militarily has created death and destruction in whole state and threatening even the idea of peace and stability of the region.”
Meanwhile, seriously concerned about the wellbeing of Kashmiri prisoners in jails especially Tihar, Geelani said that despite repeated reminders, administration seems to be unconcerned and least bothered about the ‘worst condition’ these prisoners are facing.
Citing the example of a prisoner Muzaffar Ahmad Dar who is languishing in Tihar jail for last 10 years, Geelani said that “this poor guy is suffering from a serious ailment for the last so many days and is having unbearable pain, but jail administration didn’t listen to his horrifying cries. Instead of providing him medical care, he has been left to battle for his life.”
He said that “high pitched sermons of humanity and human values by rulers, when their own citizens are facing legal trails for their offences in other countries, lose their meaning when very brazenly they bulldoze their own norms when it comes to Kashmir and Kashmiris.”
“A person confined in four walls miles away from his family, under every law qualifies for a human treatment, but the revengeful attitude of Indian rulers has blinded them to the extent that they forget the obligations and legal responsibilities to ensure their safety at any cost,” he said.
Geelani also said that these detainees are denied the basic and fundamental rights especially medical aid resulting in their ill health. “Recently Peer Saifullah a brain tumor patient, due to lack of timely medical attention, fell unconscious. Senior Hurriyat leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah and Asia Indrabi are also sick for quite some time and criminal negligence by the authorities has taken a heavy toll on their health,” Geelani said.
“Judicial victimization has prolonged their stay in jails and physical and psychological stress has deteriorated their health,” he said, adding that “Altaf Ahmad Shah is a known patient of diabetes and improper diet and medical negligence has badly affected him, likewise Mehraj-ud-din Kalwal and Zahoor Ahmad Watali are also suffering from multiple ailments, but authorities hardly care about their wellbeing.”
Pro-freedom leader said that wives of Ayaz Akbar and Shahid-ul-Islam are suffering from life threatening health problems and their life partners should have been around them in this need of hour, but “oppressor is so harsh and timid that it enjoys the painful and agonizing condition of the families of these prisoners.”
He further said that Syed Shakeel Ahmad and Syed Shahid Yousuf are also targeted and humiliated for being sons of Hizb chief Syed Salah-ud-din. “They have no affiliation with any of the political party and both where performing their professional duties in their respective fields,” he said.
Pro-freedom leader said that other prisoners in Tihar jail including Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Fehmeeda Sofi, Nahida Nasreen, Mohammad Aslam Wani, Mushtaq Ahmad, Dr. Mohammad Shafi and others are facing very hard times and Kashmiries in general and their families in particular are worried about their safety.
Geelani said that “these mischievous and inhuman tactics have never leased a permanent control to the oppressor anywhere in the world and our mean oppressor is no exception.”(KNO)