Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) Chairman Altaf Hussain Wani has sought the intervention of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Michelle Bachelet for immediate release of Kashmiri prisoners who had been languishing in jails across India and IIOJK.
The KIIR chief, in a letter addressed to the UNCHR on May 11, “A sizable number of Kashmiri detainees, who were arrested by the Indian authorities before and after 5th August 2019 have been detained in Tihar, Haryana, UP, Tamil Nadu, Madya Pardesh, Karnatka jails where there is lack of proper sanitation, hygiene and medical facilities.”
Referring to the Indian government’s failure to handle the situation, Wani said the coronavirus pandemic had wreaked havoc all across India where the deadly disease was consuming thousands of lives each day.
The sharp spike in the coronavirus deaths in India, he said, had sent shockwaves down the spine of the Kashmiris whose near and dear ones continued to languish in overcrowded jails and detention centres in its different parts. “Most of the prisoners including top-rank pro-freedom leaders have been lodged in the highly congested Tihar jail in New Delhi that has already been declared as a potential hotbed for the coronavirus disease.”
Wani said, “Since the third wave of the novel coronavirus had hit the country badly, prisoners’ coronavirus case fatality has also risen to an alarming level”. About the terrible situation in Tihar Jail, he said, “More than 250 prisoners are reported to have tested positive so far.”
Disturbing reports pouring in from the Indian jails, he said, was a matter of grave concern as many prisoners including a Kashmiri leader, currently detained in Tihar Jail, were reported to have contracted the deadly virus.
“In the wake of fast spreading coronavirus in the prison, the family members of these illegally detained Kashmiri prisoners are highly worried about the health and lives of their loved ones who are at grave danger and heightened risk of the COVID infection,” he maintained.
He said the Indian government had blatantly refused to heed the growing calls from international human rights groups regarding the release or shifting of Kashmiri prisoners back to the Kashmir Valley.
He pointed out that the BJP government had violated the Indian Supreme Court’s verdict that seeks immediate decongestion of prisons in the wake of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.
He said since the outbreak of the deadly pandemic, the Indian government had released thousands of prisoners but not a single one hailing from the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) was released till date despite the fact that two prisoners, including a prominent Kashmiri leader, recently died in the Udhampore Jail.
Rather the Indian authorities had shifted over a dozen more Kashmiri prisoners from the valley to the prisons in other Indian states last week, he added.
“This reckless step, which is tantamount to endangering the prisoners’ lives, was taken at a time when prisons all across India have been declared as potential hotbeds for the coronavirus disease,” he said.
“This deliberate attempt on the part of Indian authorities to let Kashmiri prisoners rot in the highly congested prisons and make them vulnerable to the deadly virus is a heinous crime that should not go unnoticed at international level,” the KIIR chief said.
Urging the UNCHR to take an effective notice of the matter, he said,“Given the urgency of the matter it is humbly requested to pursue the matter to ensure that; the Indian government takes urgent steps to make sure that prisoners and detainees have access to adequate medical care and protective measures against Covid-19; release all illegally detained Kashmiri prisoners especially those who are at high risk of contracting Covid-19 infections and stops using Covid-19 as a tool to punish and persecute Kashmiris.”
