Joint Hurriyat condemns ‘ill-treatment’ meted out to political prisoners

Srinagar, Dec 27: Joint Hurriyat comprising of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik Thursday strongly condemned the ‘ill and inhuman treatment’ meted out to the political prisoners from Kashmir lodged in Kathua jail.
Joint Hurriyat in a statement issued said that many inmates lodged there have been severely thrashed by the jail authorities which is not only unacceptable but against the basic principles of humanity.
“Similar treatment is given to the political prisoners from Kashmir time and again who are lodged in various jails out of Jammu and Kashmir which is a serious concern and a cause of worry,” Joint Hurriyat said.
The leadership said that “many ploys are being employed to prolong the detention period of Kashmiri prisoners as they are not even produced before the respective courts on their fixed dates of hearing which is nothing but sheer vendetta.”
“Despite clear-cut directions from the Supreme Court that prisoners be lodged to the jails closer to their homes, dozens of Kashmiri prisoners were shifted outside the State and are lodged in various parts of India where they are facing extreme suppression in-terms of absence of all the basic facilities guaranteed by the jail manuals,” Joint Hurriyat said.
“The situation is more worse in the jails that include Kathua, Udhampur, Kotbalwal, Delhi, Tihar and other prisons, where Kashmiri inmates are subjected to worst form inhuman behaviour in a brazen violation of basic human rights,” Joint Hurriyat said, urging the world bodies and international organisations fighting for the prisoner’s justice to visit the jails in Jammu and Kashmir and also various prisons in India where Kashmiri prisoners are lodged and to build pressure on New Delhi to release the inmates who have are facing no offence other than the demand for their legitimate right—the right to self-determination.
Joint Hurriyat strongly denounced the massive crackdown launched by the forces across south Kashmir, especially the day-long siege of more than a dozen villages in Awantipora, terming it as ‘the ultimate repression’.
“People of all ages were asked to stay out of their homes for hours together in the bone chilling cold while as forces conducted door to door searches in dozens of villages,” Joint Hurriyat said, asking people to “face the parade is the worst form of human rights that deserves highest form of condemnation.”
The leadership said that people of south Kashmir have been left at the mercy of forces that have crossed all limits of oppression to push people into submission.
Commenting on media reports about existence of some Joint Resistance Centre (JRC) in UK claimed to be the reflection of Joint Hurriyat in Kashmir, Joint Hurriyat has distanced itself from the said centre.
While stating that “we have neither authorized anybody to form this Centre nor do we know anything about it”, Joint Hurriyat said that “while we appreciate the role of the Kashmiri diaspora and believe Kashmiris living in any part of the world should act as ambassadors for the Kashmir cause and should be concerned about the happenings in their homeland, but making any forum and attributing it to the leadership without any prior consent or information creates confusion and misunderstanding.”
“Kashmiri diasporas is active at their respective places for long period and we wish they all unite by their hearts and minds to put a collective flight against the oppressor at diplomatic front, but it needs a common and collective efforts by everybody after proper deliberations and consent by the leadership on ground,” the Joint Hurriyat said.