Bring J&K’s prisoners back home: Mehbooba to CM
Srinagar, Aug 25: Urging Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take up the matter of shifting of J&K’s prisoners back to the UT from outside jails, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said “justice in J&K calls for urgent reforms like local lodgement of prisoners to ensure fair defence and regular family access.”
“We are here to hold a peaceful sit-in protest to demand justice for prisoners of J&K languishing in jails here and outside who are undergoing a trial. Those who are lodged in jails outside J&K are suffering in distress,” Mehbooba said.
The PDP chief said several prisoners, including separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah and many other individuals from Jamaat-e-Islami, were suffering from chronic illnesses while behind bars.
“Families of these individuals had to strive hard so that they could get proper treatment. When this is the fate of noted persons, you can imagine what families of common people, who cannot even afford to travel outside Kashmir to meet their loved ones, must be going through,” Mehbooba said.
She said trials of J&K’s youth in several cases were being stretched for months and years, and, as a result, the prisoners are denied parole and furlough, which is their legal right and vital for reform and reintegration.
“When rapists and goons like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh can get multiple bails, it is unfortunate that our youth who have been slapped with UAPA don’t even get bails,” said Mehbooba.
She said PDP had brought a resolution that J&K’s prisoners who are in outside jails should undergo a trial within the UT.
“They (CM Omar-led government) did not entertain the resolution. Leave politics aside, as that is something we will deal with once elections are fought, but out of humanity, let CM Omar Sahab take it up with the Union Home Minister that parents of these prisoners must get access to their children,” she said.
Mehbooba said an all-party delegation or ministerial panel from J&K must be allowed to visit all those jails, where prisoners from the UT are lodged.
A statement issued by PDP later said Mehbooba had sought speedy, time-bound trials so that liberty is not lost to endless delays.
“Mandatory production of the accused at every hearing should be the norm, affirming open and fair justice. Make ‘bail, not jail’ as the rule, in line with constitutional safeguards,” she said. “There should be transparent application of remission in life-term cases, without bias or discrimination.”
The PDP statement quoted Mehbooba as saying that medical bail as a humanitarian necessity should not be a matter of discretion.
“There should be full implementation of jail manuals to protect dignity and uphold prisoners’ rights,” the statement quoted her as having said.
