Says over 3,000 detainees languishing in jails across India since 2019, slams Omar’s “judicial matter” stance as a betrayal of hope
WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti has expressed grave concern over the continued detention of thousands of Kashmiri prisoners in jails outside Jammu and Kashmir, urging the government to shift them back to the Union Territory.
She said that since 2019, more than three to three-and-a-half thousand individuals from Jammu and Kashmir have been lodged in different prisons across the country, with many families unaware of their exact whereabouts. “We don’t have the official figures despite writing several times to the government. What we hear is that thousands of our people are held in outside jails,” she said.
Highlighting the suffering of the detainees’ families, Mufti said many elderly parents, sisters, and children have been left in despair. “I have met young women whose only brother was taken away, and families where the sole breadwinner is now behind bars. Many have sold their homes, land, or jewellery just to fight legal cases, while others cannot even afford that,” she added.
The PDP chief said that she had hoped the formation of a government would bring some relief, with efforts to secure legal aid and support for the families. “We never demanded their release, but at least those undertrial for years—against whom no charges have been proven—should be brought back to J&K. Their trials would be easier, and their families could at least meet them,” she said.
Mufti noted that despite repeated letters to the Home Minister, Director General of Police, and Chief Secretary, there has been no response or data shared about the detainees. “I even appealed to Omar Abdullah to form an all-party delegation to visit the prisons and assess their condition,” she said, mentioning that several prominent figures like Shabir Shah, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, and Yasin Malik are among those incarcerated.
Once I even appealed to Mr Omar through you to form at least a delegation from all parties to visit the places where our people are detained, to talk with the authorities and see them. As you know, some well-known people are among them—whether Mr Shabir Shah, leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, or Mr Yasin Malik—and some are in very poor health. We often hear about their condition, but we don’t have reliable information about many of them, she said.
Therefore we went to court and pleaded that these people are not fit to come to court themselves, so we have been appearing for them in court and requesting on their behalf. After all, court is the only door where we can hope for justice, Mehbooba told reporters.
We request that you not abandon them—keep them in custody if you must, but at least bring them back to Jammu & Kashmir so their families—parents, sisters, young sisters, wives and children—can meet them. It would also make judicial processes easier for them here. But when I heard Omar’s statement that now the matter has all become judicial and there is nothing more that can be done politically, we were discouraged. We even brought a resolution in the Assembly asking that they be shifted here, but the National Conference-led government’s Speaker rejected it and did not allow it to be discussed, she said.
