Life sentences to Kashmiri youth draw flak.. . Kolkata court awarding life sentence to two Kashmiri youth, Sheikh Imran of Karfali Mohalla and Sheikh Farhat of Bemina, has evoked sharp reaction from separatist and mainstream camps in Kashmir. Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq led a procession to Karfali Mohalla where he met the parents of Sheikh Imran. He expressed solidarity with the family members and vowed that Hurriyat would continue to resist such life sentences against Kashmiris. “Conglomerate would provide legal aid to both the youth and would also take up the issue with the international human rights organizations,” Mirwaiz said. Chairman of National Front Nayeem Ahmad Khan termed awarding of life sentences to these youth as the latest example of New Delhi ‘announcing war against Kashmiris on institutional level.’ “The duo has been awarded life imprisonment on the fake charge of smuggling ammunition,” Khan said in a statement. “Even the so called Arms Act is being used with double standards by Indian judiciary. Sanjay Dutt was awarded six-year imprisonment under the same Act but two Kashmiris were given life imprisonment,” he added. Senior Hurriyat (M) leader and Chairman Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement Zaffar Akbar Bhat along with other leaders visited the residences of both the youth and expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. Zaffar accused New Delhi of ‘persecuting Kashmiris on fake charges to quell their peaceful struggle for right to self-determination’. Chairman JKLF (H) Javaid Ahmad Mir, chairman Muslim Conference (S) Shabir Ahmad Dar, chairman Islamic Political Party Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, chairman International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Forum Muhammad Ahsan Untoo expressed shock and resentment over the life imprisonment to two Kashmiri youth: Shiekh Imran and Shiekh Farhat, by Kolkata court. Additional General Secretary of the ruling National Conference Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal expressed serious concerned over the Court decision and termed it as injustice. In a statement here Kamaal said: “If we accept for a moment that the duo was involved in the act of crime, they should have been freed by now as famous Bollywood actor received only six years imprisonment for the same crime,” Kamaal said. “Unfortunately, the duo is languishing in jail since past ten years, which is a grave injustice,” he added. Kamaal blamed PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed for not securing their release in 2003. “Had then chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed taken some serious steps these youth probably would have been freed,” Kamaal said. Peoples’ Conference Chairman Sajad Lone expressed dissatisfaction, pain and dismay over the Kolkatta court verdict. “While the anguish felt by every Kashmiri is obvious and palpable, the pain inflicted on the families of these young men who have already spent 10 long years in prison without being sentenced cannot be imagined. Sajad Lone said that because of such precise attitude towards Kashmiris, there is a well-founded perception in Kashmir that Kashmiris have become legal and canon fodder and that the only sin that Kashmiris need to commit to languish in jails is to be Kashmiris.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 01:13:22 +0000
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