Srinagar, January 31, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in its Majlis-e-Shoora meeting, today, thoroughly discussed overall political situation in the territory. APHC Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani presided over the meeting at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar. The representatives of the constituents including Ghulam Nabi Sumji, Molvi Bashir Irfani, Mohammad Rafique Ganie, Mohammad Yaseen Aataie, Khawaja Firdous Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Nagoo, Syed Mohammad Shafi, Mohammad Maqbool Magami, Yasmeen Raja, Masooda Ji, Arshid Aziz and Mubashir Iqbal attended the meeting.
Besides other issues the meeting showed its grave concern about the deteriorating condition of the Kashmiri prisoners in jails of India and the occupied territory, particularly at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Despite repeated statements and the off and on media reports there seems no respite from the pathetic and humiliating conditions faced by these poor inmates, the participants of the meeting deplored. The meeting termed Kashmir as a long-pending political and humanitarian dispute to be settled by exercising free and fair plebiscite.
In his presidential address, APHC Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani termed Kashmir a globally-accepted dispute wherein the people’s right to self-determination is not only acknowledged but also confirmed by more than a dozen UNSC resolutions. He said the persistent denial of the Kashmiris’ basic rights has turned this beautiful piece of land into a battlefield where every day killings, crackdowns, arrests, nocturnal raids and bulldozing residences have became a routine.
He expressed serious concern over the pathetic condition of the Kashmiri detainees and said despite being political prisoners they are denied every right guaranteed in the jail manual. “Revengeful attitude of the rulers in Delhi has crossed every limit of heartlessness and insensitivity. They willfully prolong their stay in jails through their judicial victimization,” he said. Citing the example of a prisoner, he said Dr Mohammad Qasim has completed his 26 years of imprisonment but he is yet to be released, how long he will remain in custody, he questioned.
He said slapping of draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) for the 37th time on Masarat Aalam Butt has created a history of non-compliance of the judicial orders at the hands of occupation administration. Similarly, he said for the last nine years Dr G.M. Butt is languishing in Tihar jail. He said Peer Saifullah is already a patient of brain tumor and has been operated recently, but he has been languishing in Tihar jail for last one and half years without any medical care and even are not being released on his medical health. The other prisoners in and outside the territory are facing the same situation.
Appealing the global organizations for protecting the prisoner rights and safeguarding their lives in custody, he said that the ill treatment, poor and unhygienic food, lack of medical aid and solitary confinement had adversely affected them to maximum and the Kashmiris, in general, and their families, in particular, are worried for their safety.
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