Plight of Kashmiri Prisoners

kashmiri-prioners

V.R. Krishna Iyer (J) has rightly observed : “In our world prisons are still laboratories of torture, warehouses in which human commodities are sadistically kept and where spectrums of inmates range from drift-wood juveniles to heroic dissenters.

It is established that conviction for a crime does not reduce the person into a non-person, so he is entitled to all the rights, which are generally available to the non-prisoner. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that he is not entitled for any absolute right, which is available to a non-prisoner citizen but subject to some legal restrictions. The Supreme Court of United States as well as the Indian Supreme Court has  held that prisoner is a human being, a natural person and also a legal person. Being a prisoner he does not cease to be a human being, natural person or legal person. Conviction for a crime does not reduce the person into a non person, The courts which send offenders into prison, have an onerous duty to ensure that during detention, detenues have freedom from torture.  William Black has said “Prisons are built with stones of Law”. So, when human rights are harassed behind the bars, constitutional justice comes forward to uphold the law.The life of an offender cannot be jeopardized by indulging in illegal physical torture by the jail authorities.

In  Sanjay Sun v Delhi Administration, AIR 1988 SC 414, The Supreme Court was not happy with the attitude of prison authority and suggested that the prison authorities should change their attitudes towards prisoners and protect their human rights for the sake of humanity.

The Article 5 of the UDHR, states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. There are words that crop up again. They mean severe beatings on the body and the soles of the feet with rubber hoses and truncheons, electronic shocks being run through the genitals and tongue, near-downing, hanging arms and legs, cigarette bums over the body, sleep deprivation or subjection to a high pitched noise and much more.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed that “right to life is one of the basic human rights. Even when lodged in jail, he continues to enjoy all his fundamental rights including the right to life guaranteed to him under the Constitution. On being convicted of crime and deprived of their liberty in accordance with the procedure established by law, prisoners shall retain the residue of the constitutional rights. This right continues to be available to prisoners and those rights cannot be defeated by pleading the old and archaic defence of immunity in respect of sovereign acts which have been rejected several times by the Supreme Court”. State is liable for the death of undertrial who continues to enjoy all fundamental rights including right to life.

Thousands of Kashmiri prisoners languish in jails across many parts of India. youth are taken away as prisoners and lodged in various prisons throughout India. Kashmiri political prisoners, most of them according to family members have been implicated in false cases are presently in the jails of Rajasthan, Varanasi, Bengaluru, Gujarat and other jails of India.

Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR) submitted a document to Secretary General UN on the plight of Kashmiri prisoners held in Tihar jail New Delhi as UN General Assembly Document titled A/HRC/36/NGO/52 at the 36th session of Human Rights Council,

The document submitted under agenda item 3 of the 36th session of the Council which started its session in Geneva, pointed out that there are 19 Kashmiris have been serving life imprisonment in Tihar jail, New Delhi.

Mohammad Hussain Fazili who was  released in February 2017,after spending 12 years in jail, reported that they are forced to urinate in each other’s mouth.

Fazili said to media that “We were forced to drink urine and eat human waste along with bread. Rats were put in their trousers. As if it was not enough, he said, pigs were let loose to lick their mouth and face. At the same time, cops used to push water and bread into our mouth. We thought since we were Kashmiris and Muslims, it was the only reason for facing such torture.

Recently, The Joint Resistance Leadership had approached the JKSHR commission with a petition maintaining that the rights of Kashmiri prisoners were being violated in jails. The petition filed before the commission on November 3, this year, had sought instructions to restore the dignity of Kashmiri political prisoners languishing in different prisons.

In New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, the Kashmiri inmates are being even deprived of basic rights to survive and no medical treatment is being provided to them, nor are they being allowed to meet their kith and kin, the petition said. It said that Kathua Jail in Jammu had become a torture centre where Kashmiri inmates are deprived of human contact for many months. This amounts to punishment beyond prison time and it is inhuman, it added

According to Media Reports, On the night of November 21, a team of Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) allegedly beat up at least 18 inmates of Tihar Jail’s High Risk wards ‘C’ and ‘F’. The inmates sustained severe injuries. Many of the injured prisoners were Kashmiris serving detention in Tihar Jail, among them Shahid Yousuf, son of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin.

On 28th of Novemeber Advocate Syed Mujtaba , A Renowned Human Rights Defender on behalf of President lawyers club president Adv Babar Qadri , lodged the complaint in NHRC new delhi against the jail authorities of Tihar, the petitioners expressed serious concern about the miserable and inhuman treatmentmeted out to Kashmiri prisoners in tihar. In the petition , safety and security, proper health care was demanded to be ensured.

Therefore, the existing legal structure of the prisons administration has to be changed, Criminal law should be amended, a new Prisons Act should be enacted and all Jail Manuals need to be Reviewed and Revised. Most importantly Indian Judiciary must continue to play its constructive and active role in prison justice.

Author is A Human Rights defender from Kashmir and can be mailed at [email protected]

Support Countercurrents

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B.
Become a Patron at Patreon

Join Our Newsletter

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

Join our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Get CounterCurrents updates on our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Related Posts

Join Our Newsletter


Annual Subscription

Join Countercurrents Annual Fund Raising Campaign and help us

Latest News