Political prisoners must be brought back to IIOJK, NC MLA urges Modi
Srinagar: A National Conference (NC) legislator has demanded that all Kashmiri political prisoners lodged in jails outside Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir be immediately brought back, terming their continued detention far from home as inhumane and unjust.
According to Kashmir Media Service, NC leader and MLA Altaf Kullo, while speaking to reporters in Jammu, said the party has repeatedly urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to shift political prisoners back to their native areas.
“We were never against bringing them back to their own places. On humanitarian grounds, they must be returned to Jammu and Kashmir,” Kullo said, stressing that keeping detainees hundreds of kilometers away from their families adds to their suffering and amounts to collective punishment.
Reiterating his party’s stance, the NC MLA said the demand for the release and repatriation of political prisoners remains a core issue and reflects the widespread resentment against arbitrary detentions under draconian laws.
Commenting on reports regarding a proposed railway line in the Bijbehara–Pahalgam area, Kullo strongly opposed the move, saying such a project is unnecessary and not in the interest of local residents. He said the National Conference leadership, including Member of Parliament Mian Altaf Ahmad, has already condemned the proposal.
“We do not need railway connectivity there. It is a short stretch and does not require a rail link,” he added.
The NC legislator also reiterated his party’s long-standing demand for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and rejection of New Delhi’s decision of August 5, 2019.
