Journalist Sajad Gul rotting in UP jail despite IIOJK High Court orders release
Srinagar: Even weeks after the detention under draconian law Public Safety Act was quashed by the High Court of occupied Jammu and Kashmir on 19 November last year, Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul continues to languish in a jail in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Gul was arrested in January 2022 over uploading the picture of a protest demonstration on his social media account against the killing of Kashmiri youth in a fake encounter by Indian troops in Bandipora district.
Over a month after the PSA quashing, Gul’s family is still waiting to see their son back home. Sajjad Gul, 27, was booked under the black law on 16 January 2022, a day after he was granted bail by the local court in District Bandipora in another criminal case registered against him. Gul was arrested by police on 06 January 2022, for posting a video clip on his social media handle about a protest at the home of a Kashmiri youth, martyred during a fake encounter by Indian troops.
Sajad Gul’s Public Safety Act (PSA) came days after Fahad Shah, another Kashmiri journalist was granted bail by the High Court in a case publishing an article in his Magazine Kashmir Walla where Gul was working as a trainee reporter before his arrest.
While quashing the PSA order of Gul, the court observed that there was no specific allegation in the dossier against the detenue which shows that the activities of the detenue could be “Prejudicial to the security of the State”. The court also observed that the authorities while passing the PSA dossier has “not applied its mind”.
Gul’s brother told the media that on 20 November they received a release order from the High Court of IIOJK. “We were quite happy that we could get our brother back home but our efforts are going in vain. We have sent the release order to all the concerned departments, but still, we have no leads as to why he is still in detention,” he asked.
He said that his brother is languishing in Uttar Pradesh’s jail under PSA. “Now the J&K high court has quashed his PSA detention. If there are any other FIRs registered against him, authorities still have to send him to a nearby prison,” he added.