Authorities should immediately end house detention of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Srinagar, Feb 3: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Wednesday expressed wonderment over the remarks of the Government of India’s Union Minister for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy in the Parliament of India today that no political leader is under house arrest in Jammu & Kashmir since it became the Union Territory.

APHC said that a police vehicle is permanently stationed outside the Mirwaiz’s residence since August 2019, who do not allow him to move out . If that is not house arrest than what is ? It asked . If he is not under house arrest then why is he not allowed to come out of his house ? Mirwaiz will complete one-and-a-half years under detention on February 5, APHC said in the statement.

 APHC reiterated that its Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq is not only a political leader of international repute, but also Mirwaiz e Kashmir, the religious and spiritual leader of Kashmir . As the Mirwaiz , because of his house detention , he is even disallowed from delivering the Friday sermon at the historic Jamia Masjid , as per centuries old Islamic tradition of Kashmir , causing anguish and despair among people.

APHC said that instead of such misleading statements , authorities should immediately end the house detention of the Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir and also release unconditionally all those political prisoners, youth, civil society members , journalists and the respectable members of the society who were arrested on the eve of August 5, 2019 among which many were booked under black laws like PSA and lodged in J&K and other jails of India including Tihar Jail, Kotbhalwal Jail, Jodhpur Jail, Agra Jail, Amphala Jail and Haryana Jail. (PTK)