Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik was Wednesday detained while trying to lead a protest march aimed at seeking release of Kashmiri prisoners languishing in various jails in and outside the state.
A JKLF spokesman said in a statement that braving snow and rains, leaders and activists of Hurriyat Conference (G), Hurriyat Conference (M) and JKLF, along with people from many walks of life, gathered outside the JKLF office at Abi Guzar and staged a protest against the plight of inmates languishing in jails of J&K and outside.
“The protestors led by JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik marched towards Lal Chowk but this rally was intercepted by the police near Press Enclave. Police had blocked the roads leading to Lal Chowk but protesters resisted and continued to march ahead,” the spokesman said.
He said that policemen swung into action and detained Malik and other resistance leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Zaki, Molvi Bashir Ahmad Mir Irfani, Mushtaq Ajmal, Bashir Ahmad Boya, Ghulam Muhammad Dar, Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar, Imtiyaz Ahmad Ganaie, Fayaz Ahmad Lone, Shakir Ahmad Ahangar, Basharat Ahmad Butt, Muhammad Maqbool Khawaja and Abdur Rashid Ganaie.
“All the detained leaders have been lodged at Kothibagh police station,” the statement read.
Prior to his detention, Malik told journalists that the protest was organised by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) to highlight the miseries of Kashmiri inmates and to express solidarity with them.
“Dr Qasim Faktoo has been in jail for 26 years now. He has been in jail for three decades now and the rulers who claim to be champions of democracy and freedom of speech have chosen to suppress his voice by putting him in jail,” Malik said. “Today, entire Kashmir is paying gratitude to Dr Qasim and others for facing oppression with braveness and dedication. In Kashmir, rulers have always used black laws like PSA and agencies like the NIA, ED to incarcerate more and more Kashmiris, send them to jails which are thousands of miles away from their families, to inflict more miseries on them and their families”.
He alleged that from 2017, the NIA and ED have arrested dozens of Kashmiris “on concocted charges” and lodged them at Tihar jail in New Delhi and other jails.
“Shabir Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Shahid-ul-Islam, Peer Saifullah, Ayaz Akbar, Meraj-ud-Din Kalwal, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karatay, Naeem Ahmad Khan, Zahoor Ahmad Watali, Asiya Andrabi, Fahmida Sofi, Nahida Nasreen, Shahid Yosuf, Syed Shakeel Ahmad, Muzaffar Ahmad Dar, Ghulam Muhammad Butt, Aslam Wani and others are facing hardships at Tihar while Ghulam Qadir Butt, Dr Shafi Shariatee, Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, Muhammad Ayoub Dar, Muhammad Ayoub Mir, Showkat Ahmad Khan, Abdul Gani Goni, Lateef Ahmad Waja, Javed Ahmad Khan, Mehmood Topi Wala, Nisar Mirza, Feroz Ahmad, Parvaiz Ahmad, Ali Muhammad Butt, Sheikh Imran, Noushad Ali, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, Ghulam Nabi Najar, Abdul Waheed Malik, Muhammad Abbas , Barkat Ali Khan are also facing ordeal in different jails,” Malik said.
Malik said a Kashmiri Muzafar Ahmad Rather is facing death sentence in Bengal jail while as Muslim League chairman Masarat Alam has been slapped with 35 PSAs continuously from 2010.
The JKLF chairman said there are hundreds of others who are not being released from jails “despite court orders”.
He appealed to the ICRC to take cognisance of the plight of Kashmiri inmates and use its good offices to safeguard them.
As per a JKLF spokesman, prisoners languishing in jails include Sarjan Barkati, Siraj-ud-Din Mir, Bashir Ahmad Kashmiri, Abdur Rashid Magloo, Zahoor Ahmad Butt, Umar Aadil Dar, Asadullah Parray, Showkat Hakeem, Mehraj-ud-Din Nanda, Abdul Ahad Mir, Muhammad Shafi Shah, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Talib Hussain, Ahtisham, Maqsood Ahmad Bhat, Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, Ghulam Nabi Kashmiri, Shakeel Ahmad Yatoo, Bashir Ahmad Qureshi, Abdul Gani Bhat, Nasir Ahmad Ganie, Muhammad Amin Ahanger, Nisar Ahmad Najar, Ghulam Hussain Wagay, Nazir Ahmad Mantoo, Nadeem Ahmad Dar, Lateef Ahmad Dar, Zahir Abbas Lone, Lateef Ahmad Rather, Sajad Ahmad Beigh, Manzoor Ahmad Najar, Basharat Ahmad Mir, Ashiq Hussain Bhat, Riyaz Ahmad Dar, Sajad Ahmad Bhat, Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie, Showkat Ahmad Ganie, Bilal Ahmad Ganie, Riyaz Ahmad Ahanger, Muhammad Amin Bhat, Nazir Ahmad Khawaja, Shabir Ahmad Mir, Mehraj Ahmad Mir, Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir, Khursheed Ahmad Mir, Muhammad Shafi Mir, Azad Ahmad Mir, Riyaz Ahmad Behroo, Ikhlas Ahmad Sheikh, Kaleem Muhammad, Javid Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Asif Bhat, Asif Gul, Bashir Ahmad Sofi, Abdul Rehman Tantray, Muhammad Yaseen Tantray, Javid Ahmad War, Maqsood Ahmad, Muhammad Ayoub Malla, Zafar Islam, Muhammad Rajab Bhat, Mashooq Ahmad Bhat, Farooq Ahmad Najar, Parvez Ahmad Najar, Aabid Ahmad Kachroo, Showkat Mehraj, Fayaz Ahmad, Fayaz Ahmad Kumar, Fahran Lalu, Suhail Ahmad Sheikh, Waseem Mehraj, Umar Ahmad Dar, Irshad Khawaja, Tajam-ul-Islam, Aadil Ahmad Shah, Ashiq Hussain Ganie, Parveez Ahmad Ganie, Hilal Ahmad Ganie, Bashir Ahmad Malik. Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh, Ishfaq Ahmad Makroo, Riyaz Ahmad Malik, Aasif Nisar Malik, Aasim Yaseen Malik, Zahir Ahmad Nala and Abdul Hamid Parray.
“Many others are serving jails despite court orders and verdicts,” Malik said, adding: “Dozens of young boys put behind bars on concocted charges of DySp lynching including Aadil Siraj Misgar, Davood Fayaz Zargar, Juwaiz Hassan Khan, Arooj Aafaq Bhat, Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Arsalan Mushtaq Bangri, Seerat-ul-Hassan, Sheikh Khalid Rasool, Imran Nabi Wani, Owaise Muneer Bhat, Danish Rahim Mir, Sameer Ahmad Khan, Danish Ayoub Badoo, Musawir Ahmad Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Bhat and no one is paying any heed to their pleas”.