Geelani asks Red Cross to take up Tihar incident with jail authorities
Srinagar: Expressing concern over an assault on Kashmiri detainees in Tihar Jail, chairman Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani has appealed International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that it should take immediate notice of this incident and raise the issue with jail authorities.
According to a statement issued to KNS from Delhi, Geelani has blamed that this assault has been carried out on the direction of Deputy Superintendent of jail Mr Goswami and ‘he always harass the Kashnmiri prisoners inside the jail in every possible way’.
The Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman said that Kashmiri inmates in Tihar Jail are living a miserable and depressed life and they feel threat to their life. “Jail authorities sometimes directly subject the Kashmiri prisoners to custodial violence and sometimes some professional criminals are hired to attack them. Kashmiri prisoners have been many times attacked in jails in the past, but this time the assault was so strong that Tauseef Ahmad Peer, Ahitsham-ul-Haq and Enginear Fafi Mehmood Bihar got fractures in their bones.”
He said that the detainees who were attacked in Tihar Jail have told their families that the professional criminals in Tihar Jail actually get the directions from the Deputy Superintendent of jail Mr Gouswami to harass the Kashnmiri prisoners. “He is a communal and prejudice minded person and harassing the Kashmiri inmates, is his favourite hobby.”
He said that the custodial violence is against the international laws and it is the worst kind of human rights violation which doesn’t have any legal or moral justification. Geelani has said that the anti Kashmiri wave is spreading all over India and Kashmiris are everywhere treated in a curl and violent ways.
“8 to 10 incidents of this kind have occurred in just a span of one month when Kashmiri were attacked and injured and the fresh attack in Tihar Jail looks to be the branch of this wave. Due to these types of incidents, Kashmiris everywhere in India, are feeling unsafe and uncomfortable and the attack in Tihar Jail have not only raised a question mark on the safety and a security of Kashmiri prisoners in Indian jails, but these incidents are worrisome for their families and they are now very much concerned towards the safety and wellbeing of their dear ones.”
Geelani appealed the officials of ICRC working in India to take serious notice of this inhuman act and raise this issue with the jail authorities and help us in safeguarding the lives of Kashmiri prisoners in Indian Jails. Geelani cautioned the jail authorities and the Indian government that they would be wholly responsible for any untoward act against any Kashmiri prisoner. (KNS)