Srinagar, March 02 , 2020: Months have passed since the parents of illegally detained Kashmiris including Hurriyet, political leaders, social activists, students, journalists languishing in jails outside the Kashmir valley, saw them, last time. A 28-year-old Kashmiri scholar, Fayaz Ahmed Meer, was arrested from his residence in Pulwama district in August, last year, and was shifted to the Baraily jail in India. He has in fact met his father Abdul Rasheed just once, in October, 2019, after the latter managed to make a trip to the UP with money borrowed from relatives. But Rasheed can recount little of the conversation, for it was in Hindi, a language he has difficulty following. The two weren’t allowed to speak in Kashmiri by jail authorities. Since then, the parents face the daunting task of collecting money visit their son again in UP.
“Fayaz was the breadwinner and now we have to manage expenses of a family of five. I go out to beg relatives for money every day,” the father told an Indian newspaper, adding that the family has also approached the district administration for help. Meer, a postgraduate in Political Science from Kashmir University, was picked up from his residence in Pahoo village and booked under the draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA) on August 3 last year for his alleged involvement in anti-India in 2014 and 2016.
“Fayaz was the breadwinner and now we have to manage expenses of a family of five. I go out to beg relatives for money every day,” he told TOI, adding that the family has also approached the district administration for help.
Fayaz is one of the 200-odd Kashmiri prisoners arrested under the stringent PSA and shifted to various jails in UP, India during or after events that followed the government’s move on Article 370 and 35 A.
Like Fayaz’s family, many others told media that they are finding it hard to visit their kin as they can’t afford expenses.
Kin of Irfan Ahmad Hurrah, a 26-year-old teacher at Darul Uloom Shah-e-Hamdan in Pampore, said they have no means of income except some agricultural land. “We can barely feed the family, forget arranging money to travel,” said his father Mohammad Maqbool Hurrah.
“Irfan was called to the local police station on July 29 to offer namaaz in a mosque as the regular maulana was not available. That was the last time we saw him. Days later, on August 9, we were told he had been arrested under PSA for provoking people in the mosque. He was then moved to a jail in UP.”
Many families TOI spoke to said it was a huge struggle but that they won’t give up.
Sami Jan, daughter of a daily wager whose brother, Faiz Ahmad Lone, is in a prison in UP in India has demanding shifting her sibling back to Srinagar Central Jail. Aizaz Ahmad Dar has also been approaching authorities after his father, Abdul Rasheed, a cab driver, was booked under PSA on a fake case of 2016 and arrested on August 2. He has managed to travel to Agra Jail UP in India to meet his father just once.
The 28-year-old has in fact met his father Abdul Rashid just once, in October, after the latter managed to make a trip to UP with money borrowed from relatives. But Rashid can recount little of the conversation, for it was in Hindi, a language he has difficulty following. The two weren’t allowed to speak in Kashmiri by jail authorities. Since then, the parents face the daunting task of collecting at least Rs 20,000 — the cost of train tickets for two to UP, food and accommodation — to meet their son again. “Fayaz was the breadwinner and now we have to manage expenses of a family of five. I go out to beg relatives for money every day,” he told TOI, adding that the family has also approached the district administration for help.
Then there is Haneef, who can’t get over the trauma of not seeing his father before his demise. He just didn't have the money for the travel. Haneef’s father, Ghulam Mohammed Bhat, breathed his last in Naini jail, Prayagraj, on December 21. The 65-yearold was brought from Anantnag on August 22 and his PSA dossier claimed he tried to disturb “peace and order” in the Valley in 2016 when Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by Indian forces. Bhat was paralytic and his condition deteriorated in jail. “Haneef has barely spoken to anyone since,” said Mohammad Ramzan, a cousin.
Ghulam Qadir Lone, 73, former general secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who was lodged in the same jail as Bhat has been in depression ever since, said his nephew Naeemullah Azim. “He is old and suffering from multiple ailments. After I met him recently and saw his condition, I have urged the authorities to shift all 200 prisoners back to jails in Kashmir.”
200 Kashmiris in UP jails:
According to jail authorities, 200 Kashmiri inmates are lodged across six prisons in UP in India. These include Lucknow, Bareilly and Ambedkar Nagar district prison and Agra, Prayagraj and Varanasi central jail. In August last year, 240 Kashmiri inmates were shifted to prisons in UP and about 40 of them have been released , claimed an officer.