Srinagar, 05 May: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Tuesday sought immediate release of Senior Leader and Party General Secretary Hajji Ali Muhammad Sagar and others detained under PSA saying there is no justification for their continued detention.
While expressing concern over the plight of detainees arbitrarily arrested during the course of 2019, party’s Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the fate of scores of incarcerated political leaders, civil society members and others hang in balance due to the insensitivity of the government in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The duration of PSA on Party’s senior leader, GS Hajji Ali Muhammad Sagar is terminating today, however to our dismay there is no end to his hardships, he has been facing for past nine months. When the governments around the world are releasing inmates on the account of their vulnerability and age, the GOI has regrettably chosen not to give any benefit to the incarcerated politicians, scores of other activists of JK. Many human rights groups too have been seeking the release of these detainees saying the undue detentions flay national and international laws,” he said adding, “The family, friends and supporters of Sagar sahib and other incarcerated leaders kept in house detention or lodged in detention centers elsewhere have been making recurring pleas before the government for their release in view of the prevailing public health emergency and ongoing holy month of Ramzan. Regrettably the government seems unmoved.”
Imran said the measure of releasing few incarcerated leaders was no less a mockery, as most of them have been confined to their houses only following their release. “Unfortunately the government chose not to give any respite to their families, who are worried for their health and are having a tough time in meeting them at detention centers. Most of the detainees have preexisting aliments, some of them including Sagar sahib underwent medical and surgical interventions during the course of their detention, which is not seeing any end as yet. But all that had no affect on the government.”
“The gravity of the situation demands that Sagar sb and others detained under PSA be allowed to join their families. It does not serve the interests of anybody to have such people’s representatives incarcerated. There is nothing which justifies their detention; all of them have been in public life serving people in one capacity or another,” he said.
He said the release of all the detainees including party GS Sagar sahib and Hilal Lone from detention centers and those under house arrest including Provincial President Nasir Aslam wani, AR Rather, Chowdhary Ramzaan, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi , Shameema Firdous, Ali Muhammad Dar, Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri, Irfan Shah, Aga Syed Mehmood, Abdul Majeed Larmi and scores of other activists and functionaries will end the tribulation, their families, associates and supporters are going through.
KNS
