APHC-AJK urges UN, rights bodies to secure dignified release of Shabbir Shah
Islamabad: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter has strongly condemned the continued detention of senior Hurriyat leader Shabnir Ahmed Shah despite being granted bail by Indian courts, terming it a blatant violation of judicial orders.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC-AJK Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi, in a statement issued in Islamabad, criticized Indian authorities for implicating Shah in another fabricated case from 1996, allegedly to prevent his release.
He said the case, originally registered on July 17, 1996, at Shergarhi Police Station Srinagar, has been deliberately revived to prolong Shah’s detention. He termed the move a clear violation of justice and said it raises serious questions about the credibility of India’s judicial system.
The convener said Shah, a prominent leader of Kashmir’s freedom movement, has spent nearly 39 years in various jails and is now elderly and seriously ill. Despite his deteriorating health, he is being kept in custody in violation of legal and humanitarian norms, he added.
Ghulam Muhammad Safi said filing successive cases against Shah despite bail from the Supreme Court reflects a systematic policy aimed at keeping Hurriyat leadership behind bars indefinitely. He described the move as “legal harassment” and “political victimization,” adding that it violates international laws and human rights principles.
He appealed to the United Nations, global human rights organizations, and the international community to take immediate notice of the situation and play their role in securing the early and dignified release of Shabbir Shah and other detained Hurriyat leaders and activists.
The statement also highlighted that Kashmiri political prisoners lodged in Indian jails are facing harsh and inhuman conditions, including lack of basic medical facilities, which it said is a violation of international human rights standards.
The APHC-AJK reiterated its call for the international community to take serious notice of the human rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and to ensure the Kashmiri people are granted their right to self-determination.
