Families of J&K Political Prisoners Decry Delay In Trials

Assabah Khan, wife of jailed Farooq Ahmad Dar, leader of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF-R), has been able to speak to her husband mainly over the phone in recent years, as his health continues to deteriorate in Tihar Jail in Delhi.

“There is no sense of justice,” said Assabah, who was dismissed from her government position in 2022, after having worked in various roles. “The trial in my husband’s case is progressing at a very slow pace. Most hearings are through video conferencing,” she said, referring to her husband’s arrest, which stems from allegations that he fuelled separatist activities after receiving money from Pakistan.

Assabah denies these charges, which she calls fabricated. Meanwhile, her husband has spent in over eight years in prison.

She says her passport was impounded because of her relationship to the jailed leader, just days after she was dismissed from service as District Panchayat Officer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rural Development Department.

Families of several other political prisoners, mainly detained under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), have expressed similar difficulties, especially in meeting their loved ones and tracking their health. Some families have called for the release of prisoners on bail until their trials are completed.

Among those imprisoned on charges related to separatist activities in Jammu and Kashmir are human rights activist Khurram Parvez and separatist leaders Shabir Shah and Masrat Alam.  Awami Ittehad party leader and Baramulla Member of Parliament, Engineer Rashid, is also serving time in Tihar jail. He previously staged a hunger strike to protest the incarceration of political prisoners in Tihar under UAPA.

Khurshid Ahmad Shiekh, the brother of Engineer Rashid, said that they have filed for interim bail for the Member of Parliament so that he can attend the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. “The hearing for the interim bail will take place on July 15 at the trial court. We’ve also submitted a regular bail application to allow Rashid sahib to be released from prison and defend the rights of the people who elected him as MP,” he said.

Sheikh, representing the AIP as Langate MLA, added that the party is calling for the release of all individuals detained on political grounds in Kashmir.

“The authorities should release all those prisoners who have been wrongly detained and are paying the price for advocating a different political ideology,” he said.

According to the family of jailed separatist leader Shabir Shah, they have not been allowed to meet him regularly at Tihar Jail, and his trial has also been progressing slowly.

“The trial has hardly advanced. On days when witnesses appear, the judge is absent; and when the judge attends, the NIA [National Investigation Agency] officials don’t show up in court. Shah sahib had an Enforcement Directorate case pending against him, which has concluded, and he has served five years in prison for it, but the NIA case is still dragging on,” said a relative who did not wish to be identified.