Srinagar, June 4: While urging the government to swiftly release political leaders and workers detained after August 5 last year, CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami Thursday said prolonged detentions are a sign of how things remain far from normal in Kashmir, despite New Delhi’s claims.
Though J&K People’s Movement leader Shah Faesal and two Peoples Democratic Party leaders – Sartaj Madani and Peer Mansoor, were released from detention yesterday, political prisoners, including PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, PDP leader Nayeem Akhter, NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar and Hilal Akbar Lone must be released without any further delay.
The leaders, including Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone and others, who were released earlier, have since been kept under house detention which should be put an end to immediately.
Also hundreds of activists, including some teenagers, who are either languishing in jails within J&K or outside must be released now. Moreover there are many Kashmiris who have been languishing in jails over several years, some without trial. They must be given a fair chance to defend themselves in courts.
We have maintained that dissent should always have a place in a democratic society. Curbing the dissent and those holding a contradictory viewpoint has proved counterproductive.
The prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir must be a cause of concern for every right thinking citizen of the country. There is no freedom to write and speak as there are restrictions everywhere. At a time when Covid-19 pandemic has engulfed the whole world and people rely heavily on the internet, the same facility is being denied to people of J&K.
The low speed internet is impeding the work-from-home (WFH) regimen of professionals, including doctors, and students attending online classes.