Mubashir Bukhari
Srinagar (NVI): Two days after his release from detention, National Conference President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today urged all political leaders in the UT to unite and press for bringing back all J&K detainees lodged in outside jails.
“Before we allow politics to divide us I appeal to all political leaders here to unite behind the call to the union government to bring back all detainees from J&K in prisons outside pending their release. While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted to J&K. This is a humanitarian demand and I hope others will join me in placing this demand in front of the government of India,” Farooq Abdullah said in his first official statement after being released from detention under PSA on March 13.
“I believe a free and frank exchange of political views is essential so that we can take stock of the momentous changes that J&K has seen after 5th August 2019 we are still some way away from an environment where such political discourse will be possible. This is especially so considering the number of people detained in August last year who remain in jails outside J&K,” he said.
The NC leader further said that he is aware that compared to hundreds of Kashmiri families he has been far more fortunate. “I was detained at home and my family had access to me. Yesterday when I went to meet my son Omar, also detained under the Public Safety Act, I had to travel a kilometer from my home to be able to see him. For families of most of the detainees meeting their loved ones is not nearly as easy. Their loved ones have been detained in jails spread across a number of states. They get two visits a month for which they have to spend large sums of money they can ill afford traveling to & staying in the vicinity of these prisons,” Farooq said.
He said the already onerous financial burden is made worse by the health risk they now face because of COVID-19. “At a time when people are being advised not to travel these families are being forced to put their lives at risk in order to meet their loved ones for a few short but very precious hours,” Abdullah said.
