Srinagar: The massive surge in COVID-19 related deaths and infections in India has alarmed the families of the Kashmiri prisoners illegally detained in Delhi’s Tihar jail and other prisons across India about the safety of their dear ones.
According to a report, the overcrowded Indian prisons have already become incubators for coronavirus. It said the IIOJK people are worried about the safety of Kashmiri detainees in the face of congestion in Indian jails and infection of inmates at large scale.
The report said that Ruwa Shah, daughter of illegally detained Hurriyat leader, Altaf Ahmed Shah, in a tweet, expressed concern over the health of her father in Tihar Jail. Every day at least 2 people are dying of COVID inside Tihar Jail and more than 250 people have tested positive so far, Ruwa Shah, revealed in her tweet. It said the families of Hurriyat leaders, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Farooq Ahmed Dar, and Shahid-ul-Islam, who are lodged in Tihar Jail, have already said that the detainees faced threat to their due to COVID-19.
The report said worried IIOJK families are asking whether the incarcerated Kashmiri prisoners are not humans that they are not set free despite COVID surge. Reports are emerging that health of Kashmiri detainees is deteriorating rapidly due to unavailability of adequate food and medical facilities.
The report pointed out that several Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders are suffering from multiple ailments and are deprived of basic human amenities including medical care in Indian jails. Hurriyat leader, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai’s custodial death has indicated that the Kashmiri detainees are facing life threat due to COVID in Indian jails as they are not provided with proper medical care, it said.
The report said the APHC has appealed to the UN, International Committee of Red Cross and other human rights bodies to come to rescue the Kashmiri detainees languishing in Indian jails. It said Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Munir Akram, has also asked the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, to help secure immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiri prisoners.
The report deplored that fascist Modi-led Indian government is paying no heed to calls for the release of thousands of Kashmiris languishing in Indian jails. Refusing to release the Kashmiri detainees despite surging COVID cases speaks volumes of vindictive nature of Modi regime, it said, adding that the global rights bodies must mount pressure on New Delhi to release illegally detained Kashmiris to save them from getting infected with the coronavirus.
