Strongly condemning the mid night raids on the residence of separatist activist Syed Bashir Andrabi at Ratinipora Pulwama, continuous imprisonment of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ameer Hamza Shah and Showkat Ahmad Dar and “government plans of restricting” all the Hurriyat leaders on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat led by octogenarian Syed Ali Geelani Tuesday said that Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has converted the state into a “major prison” and “had handed its control into the hands of Nirmal Singh”.
Demanding the release of all the political prisoners of Kashmir before the Eid including Masarat Alam Bhat, Aasiya Andrabi, Ameer Hamza Shah, Abdullah Nasir and life term serving Dr Mohammad Qasim, Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Dr Mohammad Shafi Shariaty and Dr Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat said, “the release of the political prisoners on the festival eve is a norm even in the autocratic governments. But this process has been closed in Jammu & Kashmir from last many years and instead of release, the more arrests are made here on the Eid days.”
The Tehreek-e-Hurriyat statement said that as the Eid is coming nearer, “the police have formally started a fresh crackdown on the pro-freedom people and it seems that they will not be allowed to offer the very important Eid prayers on that day. The police in this respect have started a process of arrests and raids on the residences of the Hurriyat leaders and activists.” “Aasiya Andrabi and Ameer Hamza Shah have already been arrested while as the police today night raided the house of Hurriyat leader Syed Bashir Andrabi. At that time Bashir Andrabi Sahab was not present in his house but his family and children got terrified with this midnight raid of the police.”
Condemning the police action, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat said, “he (Syed Bashir Andrabi) is not any underground person that police raided his house in the dark of the night. He is a well-known person and a pro-freedom leader and he can be located anywhere and if police wanted to arrest him, they could have visited his home in the day time.”
The statement further said, “this attitude of police is in no way any suitable and civilized action and it has no moral justification. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ameer Hamza Shah and Showkat Ahmad Dar have been arrested a month ago and since then they are not being released.”
“There are hundreds of Kashmiri prisoners languishing in the state and out of state jails and majority of them are under the preventive detention. There stands no case registered against them and they are not being produced in any court. Some prisoners have completed their terms and they are still not being released. Kashmiri prisoners in the outside state jails particularly in Tihar Jail are mistreated and misbehaved and at times they are being tortured and beaten there. Dr Ghulam Mohammad Bhat is in Tihar Jail continuously from last 4 years and his health condition is deteriorating there. The jail authorities have very biased and uncivilized approach towards the Kashmiri prisoners and they do not provide adequate medical treatment to them. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat appeals the Amnesty International and other human rights organizations to take serious notice of the miserable condition of the Kashmiri political prisoners and use their influence for their release,” the statements said.
