Release ailing separatist leaders on humanitarian grounds: Mirwaiz to Centre

Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Wednesday appealed to the Centre to show compassion and release ailing separatist leaders on humanitarian grounds.

In a statement here, the Mirwaiz expressed concern over the critical health condition of Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah and JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik.

The Hurriyat chief said Shah’s wife has conveyed to him that their daughter visited her father in jail after a month, and “reported that he seems to be dying a silent death due to his fast deteriorating health and multiple complications with no recourse to urgent care or hospitalisation”.

He said the family urged the authorities to at least shift Shah to his home and convert the residence into a jail so that the family can take care of him and provide him the urgent medical attention.

“This has alarmed me and I once again fervently appeal to the Central government to show compassion and on humanitarian grounds, release Shah or at least, as per the family’s request, put him under arrest at home where at least he will be taken care of,” the Mirwaiz said.

The Hurriyat chief said the family of JKLF chairman Malik has also conveyed that “prolonged incarceration and confinement have taken a huge toll on his physical and mental health and he is also in need of urgent medical care”. He urged the authorities to provide medical assistance to Malik. The Mirwaiz said it is “deeply distressing to hear of the pain and suffering that these and other leaders are enduring in detention”.

“Reports about the worsening health and harsh conditions of other Kashmiri political detainees and youth lodged in various jails within and outside J&K are equally worrying,” he added.