The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said that hundreds of Kashmiris have been languishing in jails since 2019.
“Since 2019, hundreds of our youth have been languishing in jails. Many families have approached me regarding this matter,” she said.
Furthermore, she alleged that the country is reeling under growing intolerance, with incidents of lynching continuing to occur, the Hawks reported.
“In 72 hours, three incidents happened. The government headed by Omar Abdullah should send a team of ministers to ensure the safety of Kashmiris outside,” she said.
She also highlighted the recent incident of a Kashmiri shawl seller reportedly beaten by Bajrang Dal activists in Uttarakhand.
She said she had written to the Director General of Police and the Chief Secretary seeking information on undertrials lodged in jails outside Jammu and Kashmir but received no response.
“I got no response. Then I went to the High Court, but their response has been negative. They are saying my PIL was politically motivated. The High Court has already held that undertrials cannot be treated as convicts. Article 21 of the Constitution says we can talk about these issues. I don’t know why the court refused my PIL,” she said.
“76 percent of prisoners are undertrials. 1206 convicts are from Kashmir who have been arrested under UAPA,” she added, and the hawks reported.
“The National Conference has two MPs in Parliament, but they didn’t raise this matter. The Rajya Sabha members are not doing anything. The chief minister is not talking about it. I had requested the chief minister to form a team to do an analysis, but he didn’t,” she said.
