Srinagar, April 09, 2020 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has called for release of all illegally detained Kashmiris lodged in different jails of the territory and India in view of the fast spreading coronavirus pandemic.
A statement issued by the HCBA said that the Executive Members of the Bar at a meeting held through video-conferencing resolved to impress upon the High Powered Committee, constituted on the directives of the Indian Supreme Court, to order release of all the Kashmiri prisoners lodged in different jails of the territory and India including the Bar President, Mian Abdul Qayoom. The HCBA President is presently lodged in New Delhi’s infamous Jail Tihar.
The statement said since the jails throughout India are mostly overcrowded, therefore, the Supreme Court should take notice of the potential threat to the lives of inmates, particularly those suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other life-threatening diseases, as they are more susceptible to become victims of COVID-19.
The Bar members maintained that their President, Mian Abdul Qayoom, who is in his advanced age surviving on a single kidney, suffering from multiple chronic ailments which include diabetes, hypertension, severe nerve damage, 60 percent blockage in one of the arteries of heart, resulting in his frail immune system, is more prone to become victim of deadly virus with minimal chances of his survival.
“The Bar Association was also provided with inputs by the family members of detainees, lodged in jails outside Kashmir that due to current lockdown family members are not in a position to have meeting with detainees who have reportedly fallen short of summer clothing and permissible amount of money for daily utilities. Therefore in order to mitigate the sufferings of inmates it is being impressed upon administration, till a decision with regard to their release is taken, to facilitate such meeting of family members of detainees immediately and forthwith,” the statement said.
It was also stated that as per jail manual the detainees booked under draconian Public Safety Act are deemed to be under-trial prisoners, as they have been detained on mere apprehension, therefore, there should be no excuse for the authorities to release them.
The Bar members said that in case any mishap with a Kashmiri detainee in the jail on account of the COVID-19, the Indian authorities would be held responsible for the same, calling for immediate release of all the Kashmiri prisoners. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference in a statement in Srinagar also demanded release of all Kashmiri political activists including party Chairman Sajad Lone who are lodged in different jails.
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