Srinagar
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) led by octogenarian Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Geelani including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Monday said that to camouflage its “shameless acts”, Jammu and Kashmir Police is trying to frame a specially-abled person, Tanveer Ahmad Waar, son of Muhammad Shaban Waar, resident of old town Baramulla who is serving his second consecutive public safety act in Kotbalwal jail Jammu, in acts which are not even possible for a healthy person.
Asking the International human rights bodies to take note of these “gruesome human rights violations” the leadership has written a letter to International Red Cross committee, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and United Nations Human Rights Commission seeking their intervention into the matter.
Text of the letter
“Respected
A 35-year-old man Tanveer Ahmad Waar S/O Muhammad Shaban Waar R/O old town Baramulla is disabled due to polio and from his childhood has not been able to walk on his feet. Besides this permanent disability, he is suffering from many diseases and has to live on medicines. This specially-abled person was arrested by Baramulla police on 21st September 2017. He was ruthlessly beaten, tortured and humiliated at various police stations and was slapped with arbitrary Public safety act (PSA), and sent to Kupwara sub-jail. Tanveer Ahmad challenged the safety act in Kashmir high court and the court quashed his PSA and ordered his release. Instead of releasing him on court orders, police and civil administration slapped another PSA on him and immediately shifted him to Kot-balwal Jail in Jammu. Recently he has been shifted to Srinagar central jail for appearing in an examination and it is here we came across to his story. After his story was published in local dailies, on 3rd of December 2017, police came out with a rebuttal and accused this handicapped person of being the main culprit for disturbing law and order in Baramulla district of Kashmir. Police in its rebuttal has said that “the accused was involved in 2016 mass uprising in old town Baramulla. They say that he decorated his tricycle with flags and provoked mobs. With the help of his gang, he high-jacked four trucks that were carrying stones and got them unloaded on Baramulla roads to prevent the police from chasing the miscreants.” The police statement claimed that in 2008, Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz wanted to return but “Tanveer yelled at him and provoked him to proceed toward LoC.”
It is ironical that the state authorities find a physically challenged prisoner too dangerous to be freed, although the courts repeatedly quashed his detention under Public Safety Act. Crippled due to polio since childhood, this 35-year-old young man from Baramulla is incarcerated for various charges such as hoisting flags atop a mobile phone tower, high-jacking truckloads of stones, “leading violent mobs” and also “provoking a slain resistance leader” to march towards the Line of Control in 2008, but no one is asking police and civil administration that how can a crippled man climb up a high tower and highjack trucks and force people to march towards LoC. As a matter of fact, in 2008, Sheikh Abdul Aziz was leading thousands of people towards LoC and one is failing to understand that how a crippled person, riding on his tricycle can force thousands of people to continue with their march, as claimed by police.
It is now an open secret that the ruling regime has given its police a free hand to frame anyone they like, on concocted charges. In Baramulla district only, hundreds of young and old have been framed under false and fictitious charges and slapped with repeated public safety acts (PSA) and many of them are languishing in different jails till now.
It is our humble submission to your kind-self to take notice of this matter. We are hopeful that your intervention can bring about a positive change in the life of specially-abled Tanveer Ahmad Waar and his ill-fated days may come to an end. Please take up this issue at the earliest and intervene to save this young man from the wrath of oppressive authorities.
Yours
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik”
