Qazi Shibli
Ninety six people, including prisoners lodged in the Anantnag District jail in South Kashmir, have tested positive for the enduring global pandemic- Coronavirus. The stats so far reveal that 222 persons have died of the infection while 12156 have tested positive in Jammu Kashmir so far.
The Administration in Jammu Kashmir headed by the lieutenant Governor has re-imposed lockdown in assorted areas of Jammu Kashmir. An official told The Kashmiriyat that the restrictions were imposed to prevent the virus from spreading further. “We have to ensure that masses are safe, so we decided to impose the restriction as the cases were showing a massive upsurge,” the administrative official said.
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Amid this colossal spike in the covid cases, the District Jail in South Kashmir’s Anantnag has become a Covid hotspot, after a political prisoner, Zahoor Ahmed Bhat- brother of JKLF ideologue, Maqbool Ahmed Bhat was tested positive, the virus has spread to 95 others, which mainly includes pro Freedom activists.
This spike and reportage on the Covid cases, has raised immense alarm amongst the families of the Kashmir inmates lodged inside various Jails outside and in Jammu Kashmir, the families are anxious about the wellbeing of their loved ones.
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Post the abrogation of special status in Jammu Kashmir on August 05, last year hundreds of Kashmiris were picked up and many of them shifted to sultry Jails in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Around 280 prisoners were lodged in these jails, which included more than 75 in the Agra District Jail of Uttar Pradesh.
Hilal’s Mother has a chronic liver disease, her last wish is to see her son before she dies/ Photo- Shah Hilal ~ The Kashmiriyat
Families Demand Release
Here at the home of Mohammed Yaseen Dar (Attai), the children of the detained Hurriyat leader are mourning the death of Sakeena Banoo, their mother, who passed away after a brief illness, last week. Mohammed Yaseen Attai was detained last year a couple of days before the abrogation of Article 370, and on the 8th day of August, he was shifted to District Jail of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, at least six hundred miles away from home.
“We have been persistently pleading that he is a diabetic patient, put under detention without a reason for the past eleven months, our mother waited for his glimpse, but was devastated and so was the the entire family as Yaseen couldn’t get the last glimpse of his wife,” a family member told The Kashmiriyat.
Now as Corona cases have been reported from the Jails, the worries of the family have proliferated, “We have been upset, the Indian Government should release him on humanitarian grounds,” the family member said, adding, “As the condition of Sakeena deteriorated, the family appealed Union Home Ministry for his release on humanitarian grounds, but the plea didn’t fetch any results whatsoever.”
The Home Ministry of India says that more than 7,300 Kashmiris including political leaders, journalists, lawyers and activists were detained —most of them during the abrogation of special status of Jammu Kashmir in August last year. The Ministry says that most of the people have been released, however hundreds continue to be lodged in Kashmir and elsewhere, Most of the detainees were booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) 1978.
In April, human rights organization Amnesty International urged India to set “arbitrarily detained Kashmiri prisoners” free.
“Due to imbalanced food, majority of the prisoners became sick in the prison. Spending night in a packed room with little space even to move was an every day ordeal we suffered in the Bareilly prison for nine months. We were not allowed to move freely in the open space in the prison, the entire day, it was hell out there” a prisoner Irfan who was recently released from the Bareilly Jail in Uttar Pradesh told The Kashmiriyat.
According to the Indian Home Ministry, more than 7,300 Kashmiris were arrested—most of them released later—before and after Aug. 5, when the Indian government abrogated Jammu Kashmir’s autonomous status. But hundreds are still lodged in jails in Kashmir and elsewhere.
The Deafening Silence
Families of other prisoners echoed similar concerns and said that they were concerned about their kids in detention.
In Chersoo Pulwama, the double-storeyed house of Bashir Ahmed Bhat wears a gloomy look, as the family has recently heard of the reports of covid positive cases inside a jail, Inayat- Bashir Ahmad’s 19 year old son was one among these hundreds of youth who were picked up in the massive crackdown post abrogation, three former chief ministers, were detained too, Mehbooba Mufti continues to remain under detention.
The ruling Right wing Bhartiya Janta party has been accused of an application of Iron fist-Policy against Kashmiris. The UN Chief recently in a statement asked India to stop nocturnal arrests and the unabated use of pellet guns in Kashmir. “The Bhartiya Janta Party feels that Kashmir will be silenced by placing a gun at its mouth, that just is a dilemma, they have ruined our relationship with India,” Bashir Ahmed Veeri, a senior member of National conference told The Kashmiriyat.
The Ruling BJP, however accuses the regional pro-establishment groups of using exploitative policies to serve their own political goals. “The NC, PDP need a self-introspection, they have ruined Kashmir, their nepotism is a major factor that Kashmir has been under-developed,” Sofi Yousuf, Jammu Kashmir, vice-president of Bhartiya Janta Party said in a telephonic conversation with The Kashmiriyat.
“I have been intervening into various cases of detention, i do want and try my best to ensure that the youth get a chance to return to the mainstream,” he said, adding, “I am of the belief that on humanitarian grounds the youth must be released, I have written to various officials in the administration including the Lieutenant Governor.”‘
“His mother has been devastated since, she serves food everyday in anticipation of her son coming back, we throw it away in the morning,”
Inayat, 19-year-old boy from Chersoo was picked up by the Jammu Kashmir Police from Awantipora in the last week of June last year and booked under Public Safety Act, subsequently shifted to a Jail outside Kashmir, he has been there since. “He called us on Eid saying that he needed money, there is no method to send him any, we are worried about him, his safety amid this ongoing pandemic,” his uncle Nisar Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat.
Inayat before, he was picked up, was studying in class 12th, also, he spread helping hands in the family business of making bats. “His mother has been devastated since, she serves food everyday in anticipation of her son coming back, we throw it away in the morning,” Nisar told The Kashmiriyat.
A Completely Halted Releasing Process
The Supreme Court of India late in March issued a directive ordering the states and union territories to consider decongesting jails “in view of the growing Corona virus threat”. A committee was formed to decide on the release convicted prisoners and under-trials on the basis of the nature of offence, the period served in jail, and severity of offence. Dozens of Kashmiri prisoners lodged in various jails were released till ending April, however the process has been at complete halt since then.
Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the political leaders in Kashmir, human rights activists, and families of detainees lodged in Jails outside Kashmir and in Kashmir as well, have been making pleas to release the prisoners. Families were worried about the detainees given their vulnerable age and underlying health conditions, Ghulam Mohammed Dar, 51, a resident of Budgam’s Galwanpora, who according to his family despite facing cardiac troubles in the Jail continues to remain under detention since August last year.
In Handwara, the brother of Mansoor Ahmed Lone 27, has a similar ordeal to narrate, Mansoor, a talented singer, was called to the Handwara Police station on 05 August from where he was taken to Srinagar and the next day he was flown to Bareilly District Jail. “We have been running from one door to the other distressed regarding, Mansoor and his health, the pandemic has just supplemented to our woes and worries,” his family told The Kashmiriyat.
Tariq Ahmad Malik, 28, Son of Nazir Ahmad Malik, a resident of Dandweth area in Kokernag of Islamabad (Anantnag) district was arrested in October 2018, released in February, resided home for nearly six days to be re-arrested, booked under public safety act, he has been languishing in the Kathua jail for the past eighteen months, his father Nazir Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat over phone.
Tariq (32), is father to an infant and a lone brother among three sisters. Speaking on the sorry state of economy of his family, Nazir said, “the family is too poor to afford frequent meetings with Tariq. I do not know howsoever, we must meet him as we are worried about Covid.”
His mother has a damaged liver and she has been appealing the authorities constantly to release Tariq.
“They are wedged in Jails distant from home and now with the virus growing at a swift pace, it likely will take a toll on their mental health, so the least the administration must do is release them on humanitarian grounds or shift them to jails where their families will have an easy access to them,” Syed Mujieb, a senior lawyer told The Kashmiriyat.
“We have appealed,” His father said, “the authorities including the lieutenant Governor, the chief Secretary of Home Department in Jammu Kashmir admin, District Magistrate Anantnag and many other officials seeking his early release.”
Risk to Mental Health
“The threat of the corona virus pandemic increases the risk to their health and safety for political prisoners, who should never have been imprisoned in the first place,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
A recent report by prominent Human Rights groups reveals that nearly 37.4% of detainees in PSA related cases have been shifted to jails in various states across India.
The COVID-19 outbreak originated in a wet market in China’s Wuhan district in December last year. The World Health Organisation has declared the novel corona virus a pandemic, signifying its worldwide spread.
With almost 25,000 deaths and a total confirmed cases touching a million, and lockdown being re-imposed in parts of the Kashmir valley, the concerns of the families are growing, in regards to their detained kith and kin, now adding to their woes, the virus has reached inside Jails and many inmates have been reported positive.
Syed Mujieb feels, “It is really regrettable that the courts seldom pay attention to the genuine plea of the families of these young people, the quashing process of PSA detentions would otherwise start after three months, it is sad that we have youth accused of the ostensible offences behind bars for many years now.”