National News

ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT+APP): Political detainees of Indian
occupied Kashmir are lodged in far-flung jails causing immense
hardships to the family members with most of inmates inable to
see their families for months together, a report said.
According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the report drafted
by the members of High Court Bar Association (HCBA), who recently visited the jails across the territory, said, “This has also diminished the chances of conducting their trials in local courts where they could prove
their innocence.” The members also noticed that no adequate
medical facilities were available in the jails.
“The inmates are huddled like cattle in overcrowded barracks
and are not allowed to interact with each other. The inmates are
depressed and mentally frustrated. The attitude of jail staff is
colonial,” one of the members of the visiting team, Arshad
Andrabi said.
He said the young boys allegedly involved in stone
pelting incidents were humiliated and tortured in jails.
“In Kot Bhalwal jail, it was reported that on the very first
days of lodgment, the alleged stone-pelters were asked to remove
their trousers and parade naked. They were harassed and tortured
mentally,” Arshad Andrabi said.
He added that during the first days of detention, the boys
were kept in solitary confinement, subjecting them to mental
depression.
The HCBA member said that a 66-year-old person Abdul Rashid
Mir from Chogul had been lodged in Udhampur Jail. Mir was picked
up from his medical shop when he tried to resist the arrest of his
son.
“The man is a disabled person having undergone three
surgeries in vertebrates and is suffering from diabetes,
hypertension and renal problems. He is not able to bend down and
only with the help of his colleagues is able to perform Wudhu
(ablution),” the report read.
The report said that prisoners held in various Jammu jails
are surviving on vegetarian food.
“This is changing the food habits of the detainees and they
are feeling it manifest in increased morbidity,” the report said.
It added that in violation of the jail manual, the Udhampur,
Kathua and Hiranagar jails were serving only vegetarian food to
the inmates.
The HCBA has mentioned names of detainees who complained
about the food crisis in Udhampur and Kathua. They linked general
weakness and some of the diseases to the denial of protein.