First statement after release
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 15: National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today appealed all political leaders in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir to unite in appealing to the Centre for bringing back all detainees lodged in jails outside the Union Territory on humanitarian grounds.
In his first statement after being released on Friday, Abdullah said: “Before we allow politics to divide us, I appeal to all political leaders in J&K to unite behind the call to the Union Government to bring back all detainees from Jammu and Kashmir from prisons outside pending their release.”
“While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted to JK. This is a humanitarian demand and I hope others will join me in placing this demand in front of the Government of India,” the former Chief Minister said.
“I have consciously avoided making any political statements since I was released from detention on the 13th of March. While I believe a free & frank exchange of political views is essential so that we can take stock of the momentous changes that J&K has seen after 5th August 2019 we are still some way away from an environment where such political discourse will be possible. This is especially so considering the number of people detained in August last year who remain in jails outside J&K”, he said in the statement.
‘I am acutely aware that compared to hundreds of Kashmiri families I have been far more fortunate. I was detained at home & my family had access to me. Yesterday when I went to meet my son Omar, also detained under the Public Safety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from my home to be able to see him. For families of most of the detainees meeting their loved ones is not nearly as easy. Their loved ones have been detained in jails spread across a number of States. They get two visits a month for which they have to spend large sum of money they can ill afford traveling to and staying in the vicinity of these prisons”, he said.
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