Mirwaiz expresses concern over arrest of people in decades-old cases

Srinagar, Dec 12: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday expressed concern over the arrest of people in decades-old cases and urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to intervene.

Addressing the Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid here, the Mirwaiz, who is also the chief cleric of Kashmir, said there is a “deep concern” among people over the developments taking place in which individuals are being arrested in connection with decades-old cases.

“This has created a lot of anxiety and uncertainty, especially among those persons and their families who have disengaged from past paths for long,” he said.

He said “already thousands of Kashmiri prisoners are languishing” in jails in and outside Jammu and Kashmir, “some for decades, causing immense suffering to their families”, and arresting more people “only adds to the woes and pain of Kashmiris”.

He said the “continued detention” of Kashmiris in prisons outside the Union Territory often results in “delays” in trial proceedings and “severely limits” family access, “running contrary to the basic principles of humane treatment and natural justice”.

Urging the elected government in J-K to intervene, the Mirwaiz called for a review of the handling of such old cases and also appealed for the transfer of detainees back to Jammu and Kashmir “to ensure a fairer, faster, and more compassionate process of justice”.

He also appealed to the government to intervene and stop “the continuing process of arrests and detention of individuals who have moved on and are not associated with any form of violence in decades”. (PTI)