Srinagar, October 12, 2022 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders have strongly denounced the custodial death of senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Altaf Ahmad Shah, terming it a cold-blooded murder. The illegally detained APHC Vice Chairman, Shabbir Ahmed Shah in a message sent from New Delhi Tihar jail and released in Srinagar expressed deep shock over the demise of Altaf Ahmed Shah in the Indian captivity.
He denounced in strong terms the Indian apartheid regime’s brutal attitude towards the Kashmiris and said Altaf Ahmed Shah’s tragic death in custody speaks volumes about the dangerous tactics the communal Modi regime has been using to eliminate legitimate political voices of Kashmir that have refused to toe its diktats.
The APHC Vice Chairman termed the death of Altaf Shah as a cold-blooded murder. He said that it was quite unfortunate that the Indian authorities blatantly refused to provide him medical care and remorselessly ignored his fast-deteriorating health condition. “Detaining Kashmiri leaders and political activists under bogus cases and leaving them to rot in jails far away from their homes is part of the Modi government’s policy intended to render the ongoing freedom struggle a leaderless movement,” he said. Thousands of Kashmiris including the top rank Hurriyat leaders who have been arrested before and after 5th August 2019 have been lodged in Indian jails, he said.
Shabbir Shah said denying medical facilities and other basic amenities to Kashmiri prisoners in jails is a dangerous killing tactic Indian authorities have been using to punish and persecute Kashmiris. He paid rich tribute to Altaf Shah’s life long struggle and his sacrifices saying that the deceased leader devoted his whole life for the sacred cause of freedom from India. He extended his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul.
APHC leader, Engineer Hilal Ahmad War, in a statement in Srinagar condemned the custodial death of Altaf Ahmad Shah. He termed his demise as huge loss for the resistance movement. “Altaf Ahmad Shah devoted his whole life for the Kashmir cause. He was a sincere and an honest leader. His contribution and role would be remembered in the history of Kashmir,” he said. Engineer Hilal War appealed to the international community to impress upon the Indian government to release all illegally detained Kashmiri political prisoners languishing in different Indian jails including the infamous Tihar Jail to save their precious lives.
APHC leaders Khadim Hussain and Syed Sibte Shabbir Qummi in a joint statement said the custodial killing of Altaf Ahmad Shah has once again exposed the ugly face of India. They maintained that currently a large number of Hurriyat leaders, including APHC Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, are languishing in Tihar and other Indian jails, many of them have developed serious ailments due to unhygienic food, lack of medical care and other basic facilities. They deplored that the Modi-led Hindutva government is following the policy of slowly pushing all the detained leaders to death. They said that earlier senior Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Gilani and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai also died in the Indian captivity.
Khadim Hussain and Sibte Shabbir Qummi said that the successive killings of Kashmiri political prisoners in Indian detention should serve as an eye-opener for the international community, which must come forward to save the Kashmiris from the Indian atrocities and resolve the Kashmir dispute. They also paid tribute to Altaf Shah and prayed for patience for his bereaved family members.
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