APHC seeks UN intervention for release of Kashmiri detainees
Srinagar: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has appealed to the United Nations and international human rights organizations to put pressure on India to release all Kashmiri political detainees, including Hurriyat leadership, who are stuffed under inhuman conditions in jails of India and the occupied territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the APHC spokesman Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement issued in Srinagar said India cannot suppress the freedom sentiment of the Kashmiri people through illegal detentions, arrests, and harassment.
The APHC spokesman said thousands of illegally detained Hurriyat leaders, activists, and youth, including APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Aasiya Andrabi, Ayaz Akbar, Shahid-ul-Islam, Merajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Fehmeeda Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, Dr Hameed Fayaz, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Molvi Bashir Ahmad Irfani, Bilal Siddiqi, Ameer Hamza, Mohammad Rafiq Ganai, Zafar Akbar Butt, Mohammad Hayat Bhat, Mehrjudin Nanda, Abdul Ahmad Parra, Noor Muhammad Fayaz, Hayat Ahmed Butt, Showket Hakeem, Zahoor Ahmed Butt, Shakeel Ahmad Yatoo, Umar Adil Dar, Saleem Nanaji, Muhammad Yasin Butt, Fayaz Hussain Jaferi, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Adil Siraj Zargar, Dawood Zargar, Assadullah Parray, human rights defender Khurram Parvaiz, and journalist Irfan Majeed, are subjected to the worst physical torture and biased treatment in the jails of India and the occupied territory.
Expressing his deep concern over the plight of Kashmiri detainees, he said that most of these detainees have spent more than two decades in jails. He said some of these detainees include Dr Muhammad Shafi Shariati, Dr Mohammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Ghulam Qadir Butt, Mohammad Ayub Mir, and others.
The statement pointed out that despite continued detention and physical and mental torture, the morale of all Hurriyat leaders and activists remains high, and they are ready to render any sacrifice for the Kashmir cause.
He maintained that the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir are proud of Hurriyat leaders and activists, who are either in jails or striving on the ground for achieving a peaceful and sustainable solution to the Kashmir dispute under UN resolutions.
The APHC appealed to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and all local and international human rights organizations, including Asia Watch and Amnesty International, to use their clout for the release of the jailed Kashmiris and the settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions.
