KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Hurriyat Conference (m) chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Saturday strongly denounced the government for the “brutal killing” of 16-year-old student, Qaiser Hameed Sofi of Shalimar after “torturing him in custody” and “forcing” him to consume poisonous substance.
Mirwaiz said, “killing a teenager in such a cruel manner shows the level of hatred towards people for demanding their basic political rights and challenging the establishment.”
In a statement issued this evening, Mirwaiz said, “if this wasn’t enough ruthless force was unleashed on the funeral procession of the martyred youth by the government forces resulting in critical injuries to dozens of persons, including women and children, many of who have been hospitalised.”
“It is the moral responsibility of the international community to take cognizance of such repression and put an immediate stop to it,” he observed.
Paying glowing tributes to the Jammu Martyrs of 1947, Mirwaiz said, “6 November 1947 is the dark day in the history of our struggle. It is a reminder of the savagery of fanatical forces who killed lakhs of unarmed Muslims in Jammu and molested the women.”
He said the sacrifices of these lakhs of Muslims is the “legacy of our struggle as is the sacrifice of tens of thousands of martyrs since then who have been offering their lives for the cause of resolution of Kashmir dispute, which will continue till the achievement of our right to self-determination”.
The statement that the Hurriyat Conference (m) spokesperson strongly condemned the government for “torturing” dozens of detainees held in the Baramulla sub-jail and “threatening” them to kill them terming it as the “worst example of state barbarism”.
The spokesperson said, “on November 1, one of the detainees at the Baramulla sub-jail, Lateef Ahmad Kaloo of Arampora Sopore, who is a cardiac patient had developed severe pain in the chest after which the detainees in the sub-jail had demanded the jail authorities to provide him medical attention or shifting him to the hospital but the authorities had turned down their repeated pleas following which the detainees had staged peaceful protests and staged a hunger strike against it.”
“The district police administration and jail authorities used brute force on the detainees, threatening them with their lives and beat them up to pulp resulting in critical injuries to Mehrajuddin Namda of Hajin, Nisar Ahmad Shah of Shalpora, Sopore, Abdul Wadood Sami of Sopore, Bashir Ahmad Changal of Sangrampora, Sopore, 80-year-old Ghulam Mustafa Wani of Noorbagh Baramulla, Muhammad Yusuf Khanday of Hajin, Asif Dar or Batapora, Sopore, Wali Muhammad Lone of Seer Sopore, Muhammad Ikhlaas Sheikh and Sajad Ahmad Chopan of Bomai Sopore while 24 others also received wounds,” the statement detailed.
The Hurriyat Conference spokesperson also condemned the forces for “damaging” religious books of the detainees and Islamic books in the library of the sub-jail and damaging of other items of detainees especially their beddings which was set on fire and said, “instead of providing medical aid to the injured detainees, police had registered FIR against them under sections 307, 147 and 149.”
“Police deliberately went berserk on the detainees in presence of SP Jail and Dy SP sub-jail in a designed manner and it appeared that this was a part of political vendetta against them,” the spokesperson added.
The statement said, “Kashmiris who were dealt with brute force outside are now also being dealt mercilessly inside jails and urged the international rights bodies to take note of these atrocities.”
