In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference has expressed deep concern over a sentence given to a Kashmiri youth, Muzaffar Ahmad Rathar.
The APHC spokesman demanded the release of all illegally detained Kashmiris who have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment and are lodged in different jails. “They are not criminals and are being victimized just for pursuing the freedom of Kashmir,” said a press release issued on Saturday.
The spokesman said that like Muzaffar Ahmad Rathar, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Dr Muhammad Shafi Sharyati, Ghulam Qadir Butt, Noor Muhammad Tantray, Feroz Ahmad Butt, Muhammad Ayoub Dar, Muhammad Ayoub Mir, Fida Ahmad, Muhammad Hussain, Ghulam Muhammad Butt, Muhammad Yousuf Pala, Abdul Waheed Naik, Bashir Ahmad Butt, Mushtaq Ahmad Malla, Javed Ahmad Khan, Pervez Mir, Muhammad Maqbool, Sharief-ud-din, Ghiyas-ud-din, Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, Abdul Hamid, Zakir Hussain, Hassan Ali, Abdul Rasheed, Muhammad Sayeed Butt, Fayaz Ahmad Mir, Showkat Ahmad Khan and many other detainees were in no way terrorists.
“They are brave-hearts pursuing a resolution of the Kashmir dispute. They are political prisoners and cannot be prosecuted in any court of law,” he said.
The APHC spokesman said that Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute and the United Nations while accepting its disputed status has justified the Kashmiris’ struggle for its peaceful settlement. He said that India, being a member of the UN, was duty-bound to follow all its rules. Instead, it is trying to impose its writ in occupied Kashmir with military might, he added.
Referring to history and India’s independence movement against Britain, the APHC said that those who were part of that movement were regarded as freedom-fighters. “However, when dealing with Jammu and Kashmir, Indians don’t follow the same principle.” The statement said that if Subhash Chander Bose and Bhagat Sigh were treated as national heroes for India, then those striving for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute should be treated the same.
The spokesman said that Muzaffar Ahmad Rathar and all those striving for resolution of the Kashmir dispute should not be victimized as they were pursuing a just cause. “It is unjustified to victimize these people and to punish them is unacceptable,” he added.
The APHC appealed to Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross to take serious notice of the plight of the Kashmiris who have been awarded life and death sentence and to impress upon India to release them.
“It is a moral obligation of the international community to use their influence in this regard,” he added.
