SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) vice chairman Gulam Ahmed Gulzar has said that India is assassinating Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders one by one to deprive Kashmiris of their leadership.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Gulam Ahmed Gulzar in a statement issued in Srinagar, said denying medical aid to incarcerated ailing leaders, including Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Dr Hamid Fayaz, is a well-planned conspiracy to eliminate them.
Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating health condition of senior Hurriyat leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Amir Jamat-e-Islami Dr Hameed Fayaz, he said the Modi-led RSS regime killed veteran leader Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Altaf Ahmed Shah and many others.
He said Shabbir Ahmed Shah is a beloved leader of Kashmiris who has spent 38 years in different Indian jails. He termed Shabbir Shah a symbol of sacrifice, who has dedicated his entire life to the freedom movement.
Saluting the courage, dedication, forbearance and steadfastness of Shabbir Shah, Gulzar said despite suffering from many diseases, including prostate cancer, he has never bowed down before oppressors.
He said it is due to the supreme sacrifices of Shabbir Ahmed Shah that he is known as Nelson Mandela of Kashmir, and human rights organizations call him a prisoner of conscience.
Expressing serious concern over the deteriorating health condition of Ameer Jamat-e Islami Dr Hameed Fayaz in central jail Srinagar, he said Hamid Fayaz is not only a great political leader and philanthropist but also a religious scholar who is promoting Islam, working for the welfare of the downtrodden and resisting Hindu culture in the disputed territory.
Over 9,000 Kashmiris rotting in Indian jails
He said over nine thousand Kashmiris, including political leaders, human rights activists, journalists, scholars, and ordinary youth, have been rotting in Indian jails in concocted cases.
The irony of the fate is that dozens of Kashmiri women, including Aasiya Andrabi, are also languishing in different Indian jails, he lamented.
He said these detainees are not only tortured and victimized but also provided with unhygienic food by the authorities. He said the majority of these prisoners are suffering from fatal diseases and are deprived of all basic facilities.
Demanding an early release of all political prisoners, he said all people who believe in humanity and the supremacy of human rights must join the struggle for the release of these detainees.
He also appealed to the United Nations and other international human rights organizations to come forward and save Kashmiris from Indian state terrorism.
