Altaf Hussain Wani Chairman, KIIR.
Madam Commissioner, With reference to the subject cited above I wish to draw your urgent attention towards the following few lines; That Ms. Aasiya Andrabi is the Chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) a constituent of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an amalgamation of over two dozen social and political organizations seeking a peaceful settlement of Kashmir dispute. She is also one of the prominent and frontline Kashmiri women activists who has been a vociferous critic of Indian government’s hardline Kashmir policy.Ms Andarbi, 60, an under-trial prisoner has been languishing in New Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail over the past two years despite suffering from multiple acute ailments. Her health in the prison had deteriorated to alarming levels after she was shifted to a penitentiary ward recently, where prisoners face a strict schedule, including forced physical labor. While Ms Andarbi has been left to rot in the prison without any trial, in the meantime, a Delhi Court had formally ordered framing of charges against Aasiya Andrabi and her two associates Nahida Nasreen and Sofi Fahmeeda,for allegedly waging war against India. Madam Commissioner, The charges against her are based on a frivolous report prepared by the Indian secret agencies with malafide intentions. Implicating Ms Andarabi and her two associates in fake and fabricated cases is the worst example of political vendetta and an attempt to suppress and silence her. The KIIR remains seriously concerned over the illegal and continuous detention of Ms Andarabi and other under-trial political prisoners who are being punished for speaking truth to power and raising the voice for the voiceless in Kashmir. Madam Commissioner, The Indian judiciary has been virtually unable to provide justice to Kashmiri detainees. There are hundreds of Kashmiris who have been searing in flames of withering injustice and discrimination. The courts and judges have been playing into the hands of the Indian government that seems hell on choking every dissenting voice in Kashmir. Hanging of Kashmir’s prominent freedom fighter Muhammad Maqbool Bhat and Muhammad Afzal Guru severe as the glaring examples of Indian judiciary’s biased approach against the Kashmiris. Madam Commissioner, Given the aforementioned situation we appeal your highness to take cognizance of the plight of Ms Andarabi and other Kashmiri detainees and use your good offices to ensure safety and early release of all Kashmiri prisoners languishing in different jails within and outside Kashmir.
