MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Azad Jammu and Kashmir Supreme Court Bar Association (AJK SCBA) Friday strongly condemned the recent decision of the Delhi High Court rejecting the bail plea of veteran Kashmiri freedom leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, which, the AJK SCBA described as a politically motivated and fabricated “militancy funding case.”
“Mr. Shabir Shah, a symbol of unwavering resistance and political struggle in Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) state, has been incarcerated for decades under draconian laws without fair trial or conclusive evidence,” said Javed Najam us Saqib, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Supreme Court Bar Association.
Denial of basic legal rights in occupied Kashmir
“The continued denial of basic legal, human rights including bail, reveals the disturbing erosion of democratic and judicial principles within the Indian legal system.”
The AJK SCBA considers it a prejudicial verdict by Delhi High Court, a deliberate attempt to suppress dissenting Kashmiri voices, delegitimize their political aspirations, and crush peaceful resistance through judicial persecution, the statement said.
The SCBA said it is deeply alarming that internationally recognized norms of justice and due process are consistently violated in cases involving pro-freedom Kashmiri leaders.
President Javaid Najam-us-Saqib ASC, on behalf of the legal fraternity of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, called upon the international legal community, human rights organizations, and UN special rapporteurs to take urgent notice of Shabir Shah’s prolonged and unjust detention.
“The silence of the global conscience in the face of such systematic victimization is tantamount to complicity,” he said.
The AJK SCBA President reaffirmed its moral, legal, and political support for the just and legitimate struggle of the Jammu and Kashmir people for their right to self-determination, as guaranteed under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.
