Malik, others detained as JRL takes out rally against ‘plight’ of inmates
Srinagar: Police on Wednesday foiled the protest called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) against the plight of Kashmiri inmates languishing in jails and expressing solidarity with Doctor Qasim Faktoo who has completed 26 years in jails.
The protest called by JRL comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik was led by JKLF Chief from Abi- Guzar Srinagar in which leaders and activists of Hurriyat (G), Hurriyat (M) and JKLF along with people from many walks of life participated.
Holding placards depicting photographs of Doctor Qasim Faktoo who recently completed 26 years in jail and slogans against the torture and torment imposed on Kashmiri inmates in various jails and raising slogans in favor of these inmates, the protesters marched towards Lal Chowk but this rally was intercepted by police near Press enclave.
The spokesman as per a statement issued here said that police had blocked the roads towards Lal Chowk by erecting barricades but protesters resisted continued to march despite heavy rain and snow. However, the statement said that police arrested Yasin Malik and others and dispersed the peaceful rally.
Prior to his arrest, Malik addressed people at Abi-Guzar Masjid and talked to media person too.
Malik said that today’s protest was organized by JRL and its main purpose is to highlight the miseries Kashmiri inmates are suffering from at the hands of ‘oppressors’ and also express solidarity with Doctor Qasim Faktoo who has been in jail for 26 years now.
“Putting voices of dissent in jails and claiming democracy are two opposite things and those crushing voices of dissent by army, forces and police might have no right to call themselves as champions of democracy. Thousands of Kashmiri inmates are facing Indian wrath in jails and incarcerations centers which is highly condemnable,” he said.
Malik said that Dr. Qasim has been in jail from three decades now and rulers who claim to be champions of democracy and freedom of speech have chosen to suppress his voice by putting him in jail.
“Today, whole Kashmiri nation is paying gratitude to doctor Qasim and others for facing Indian oppression with braveness and dedication,” Malik said, adding that rulers and their supporters in Kashmir have always used black laws like PSA and agencies like NIA, ED etc to incarcerate more and more Kashmiris, shifting them to jails that are thousands of miles away from their families and hence inflicting more miseries to them and their families.
“From 2017, NIA and ED has arrested dozens of Kashmiris on concocted charges and lodged them at Tihar and other jails,” Malik said, adding that several inmates are also facing ordeal in different jails. “A Kashmiri Muzafar Ahmad Rather is facing death sentence in Bengal jail while as Muslim league chairman Masrat Alam has been slapped with 35 PSA’s continuously from 2010,” he said.
He said that there are hundreds of others who are not being released from jails despite court orders. Malik said that many inmates are serving jails despite court orders and verdicts.
“There are dozens of young boys who have been put behind bars on concocted charges of DySp lynching and no one is paying any heed to their pleas,” he said, adding that “this protest was aimed to convey to the international community to wake up from its deep slumber and do its duty of safeguarding humanity in Kashmir.”
He appealed ICRC to take cognizance of the plight of Kashmiri inmates and use its good offices to safeguard these inmates.
KV News
