Kin meet detained leaders, rue poor facilities at MLA Hostel

mir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 20

After being shifted from Centaur Hotel on the banks of the Dal Lake, detained political leaders of the Kashmir valley put up at MLA Hostel were allowed to meet their family members here today.

As this was for the first time that the leaders met with family members after being shifting from Centaur Hotel on Sunday, there were complaints that the facilities at MLA Hostel were not good.

PDP leader Naeem Akhtar’s daughter Shaheryar Khanum said MLA Hostel was “only fit for demolition”. “It is only fit for demolition....it is a defunct building that lacks basic facilities. There should be a hygienic place for these leaders. There are no heating arrangements or proper lighting arrangements. We have to get these facilities ourselves,” Khanum told reporters.

Saqib Madni, son of PDP leader Sartaj Madni, said the government had a “better option of keeping these leaders under house arrest like so many leaders across Kashmir are kept”.

Tanveer Veeri, brother of NC leader Bashir Veeri, said even Central Jail was a better option. “ There are no proper heating and lighting arrangements (at Srinagar’s MLA Hostel),” Veeri said.