PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch all political detainees languishing in jails in and outdoors Jammu and Kashmir instantly within the wake of the worsening COVID-19 scenario.
“Throughout the world, most countries have released prisoners on parole in view of the alarming COVID crisis. A democratic and civilised country like India shouldn’t drag its feet and must release these detainees immediately so that they can return home at a time when life feels so threatened,” Mehbooba stated in a letter to the prime minister.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister stated she didn’t want to “politicise the human tragedy that has befallen us all”.
“It’s an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of caste, colour, religion or social status and has affected everyone. Perhaps the only silver lining in this tragic time is how Indians cutting across religious and regional lines are coming together to lend each other a helping hand,” she stated.
Mehbooba stated worrying reviews about prisoners dying as a consequence of COVID-19 and subsequent lack of medical consideration have been trickling in. At a time when the system is struggling to deal with this horrendous scenario, lives of prisoners stands out as the least precedence, she stated.
“As far as Kashmir is concerned, it is no secret that hundreds, or may be thousands of detainees and political prisoners arrested since August 2019 continue to languish in jails both in and outside J-K.”
“Most of them are detained under preventive laws and don’t face any prosecution. Many continue to be held even after courts granted them bail. Most recent reminder of the lurking threat to their lives is Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai’s death who lost his life because he contracted COVID in jail and was deprived of medical care,” she added.
The PDP president hoped that the prime minister will give due consideration to the matter and order the discharge of detainees.
