SRINAGAR: Demanding release of all political prisoners in reverence of Eid-ul-Azha, a group of mainstream leaders today said general amnesty to prisoners can be a good beginning for normalcy on ground in the Kashmir valley.
In a statement here this afternoon after a meeting, the leaders, including Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami CPI (M) State Secretary, Hakim Mohammad Yasin President PDF, Abdul Rashid Kabuli former president JKNDF, Sheikh Abdul Rehman state president Samajwadi Party, Abdul Rehman Tukru state secretary CPI and Sanjay Saraf youth president Lok Janshakti Party have demanded release of political prisoners lodged in different jails of Jammu and Kashmir in reference to the forthcoming festival of Eid.
The meeting unanimously demanded that hundreds of youth who have been in jails for quite some time under minor offences since last few years be released under general amnesty and as a goodwill gesture to improve the ground situation in Kashmir.
They unanimous demanded that the Public Safety Act (PSA) has been grossly used against the political prisoners by repeatedly booking them on one or the other pretext.
“We are receiving numerous requests from relatives and families whose near and dear ones are languishing in different jails.
These families want to cherish the forthcoming festival of Eid with their kith and kin who are presently in jails. The government must understand the sensitivities involved and release all the political prisoners under an amnesty plan,’ the meeting observed.
They also expressed serious concern over the deteriorating health of some of the inmates saying that prisoners with serious ailments should be released on compassionate grounds.
The leaders opined that cases against youth who have been booked in minor offences be withdrawn so that their career is not marred and they don’t get exposed to vulnerable situations inside jails.
