The  All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC)  reiterating its stand for resolution of the Kashmir dispute  has demanded  release of Hurriyat leaders and activists languishing in different jails. According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas a statement issued after a meeting of Hurriyat members in Srinagar expressed serious concern over the deteriorating health of senior Hurriyat leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.  He said that APHC chairman Massarat Aalam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Pir Saifullah, Raja Merajuddin Kalwal, Ayaz Akbar.

Nahida Nasreen, Fahmeeda Sofi and others are facing serious health issues due to denial of medical facilities in Tihar and other Indian jails. The meeting praised the commitment of leaders and youth for patiently bearing the trials of incarceration for the last over seven years and the anguish it has caused to their families. It said Kashmir has become the world’s largest open-air prison under Indian occupation where every Kashmiri lives under constant fear and repression.    

The meeting expressed great dismay at the offensive behaviour of the jail authorities, which is also a serious violation of their basic human rights, urging the UN and other human rights organisations around the world to take cognizance of the matter and play role in their release. The speakers said the APHC has always advocated the principled stand of dialogue as a means of resolution of the Kashmir dispute which it believes is the most just and peaceful way in a civilized world. Therefore, both India and Pakistan should cooperate to resolve this matter amicably, the members added. 

The APHC reiterated their demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political leaders, activists, journalists, civil society members and youth, who are languishing in jails of IIOJK and India, urging the Indian govt and authorities to stop using incarceration as a means of harassing people.  The meeting also called on the global community including the United Nations to act urgently and uphold its responsibilities to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)