 Kashmiri leader Shabir Shah is facing his 5th year of pretrial detention. His health condition is critical, and if not released for his medical treatment, the family fears that the consequences may be fatal. I just want to Save My father's life. He has served 34 years in prison with no allegation ever proved against him. My name is Sehar Shabir Shah, and I'm 19 years old. I am the daughter of Shabir Shah, the Kashmiri “Nelson Mandela” who has served 34 years in Indian prisons for demanding the right of self-determination for the Kashmiri Indigenous population. In all these years, the Indian courts never convicted him. For a significant part of my life, I have met my father inside the boundaries of Indian jails. I have been seeing my father through a window of glass; so small that I could barely see his face; so blurred that I couldn't picture him but only a shadow-like thing. I could neither touch him nor see him clearly; instead, I put my hand on the glass window, and so did my father. It felt like we were holding hands. From what I could figure out, he has turned so weak — like a skeleton. "Your father will never be released" — I have heard that innumerable times from the jail staff. Female forces' personnel would check me thoroughly at the jail gate; they used to grab my face so harshly – that it hurt – to check if I was hiding something in the mouth. And the rude abuses were harsh too. I recall an incident in 2019 when I had written a poem for him. I kept the paper, with my thoughts inked on it, in my pocket when I accompanied my mother to the jail. A female cop frisked me; she removed my hijab and pulled my hair, saying, "Tum aatankwadi ho." (You are a terrorist). She found my poem. And she handed it over to one of her colleagues, a Tamilian officer who couldn't read English. "In aatankwadiyo or inke gharwalo ko sabse buri saza deni chaiye," (These terrorists and their families should be punished badly) she said. "It is a gift for my father," I had said. Nonetheless, she called another cop and asked him to tear the poem in front of me. And spit on it. They laughed and spoke in the Tamilian language that I didn't understand. On 29th October 2021, my mother and I travelled 700 kilometres from Srinagar to Delhi to visit my imprisoned father after two years. We were appalled to see that he couldn't stand or walk independently. He had become so frail that he had looked like his childhood photos. In the five-minute conversation allowed by jail staff, we could understand that doctors advised my father two surgeries and one biopsy. In the past, jail authorities have ignored repeated requests for access to his medical records so that we can get an independent evaluation of his medical conditions.  Shabir Shah is not a terrorist or criminal. He was offered the role of Chief Minister of Kashmir in 1995 by the then prime minister of India. At 67, while serving the 35th year of his non-consecutive imprisonment, he is critically ill. According to United Nations reports, Indian jails are hostile places for Kashmiris as they are considered terrorists and traitors. Former Kashmiri prisoners say that jail doctors are more hostile than jail staff.
My father's health is very critical. Any delay in surgeries can be fatal for him. We do not trust the available medical treatment options provided by jail authorities, particularly for surgeries. His life is more important than his release. Yet, the only way he can be saved is through release on bail so that the family can arrange his medical treatment and surgeries independently. We request the international community to work with the United Nations and the Indian government to work for my father's release on bail on humanitarian grounds. According to international fair trial Standards, my father has the: Right to get a fair trial within a reasonable time; Right to bail during his prolonged pretrial detention; Right to access his medical records; Right to consult his doctor and physician at his own expense; Right to meet his family in a comfortable atmosphere. I just want to save my father's life. Tazeen Hasan is a research fellow and campaign lead against arbitrary detention at Justice For All Canada. Tazeen penned this reflective article while in close communication with Sehar Shah.  Tazeen Hasan illustrates how the Indian Government uses arbitrary detention through anti-terror laws as a Settler-Colonial device against the Indigenous population of Kashmiris.
Kashmiri youth are being booked under draconian laws for celebrating Pakistan's victory in the Indo-Pak cricket match in Indian-administered Kashmir and India, local Indian and international media reported. Also, Kashmiri students in Punjab and the Uttar Pradesh States of India were beaten by the mob after the Pakistani victory over Indian Cricket Team. According to Al-Jazeera, the Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have filed criminal cases under a stringent anti-terror law against the students of two medical colleges in Indian-administered Kashmir for celebrating Pakistan's victory against India in the T20 World Cup. The cases were filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Activities Act, one of the few controversial laws condemned by human rights groups and the United Nations. Also, according to the Guardian, police in Agra, Bareilly, and Mohali have arrested seven Kashmiri students for allegedly celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in a cricket match. According to Indian national media, the college suspended them because they were accused of posting messages on social media supporting Pakistan. In a tweet, Uttar Pradesh's chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, famous for his genocidal remarks against Muslims in his election campaign, said that the three might be charged with sedition. Police have already charged them for cyberterrorism and "promoting enmity among groups" that police accused them of after the arrests on Wednesday. The Himalayan region of Kashmir is an internationally disputed predominantly Muslim territory where the Indigenous population is struggling to fight for the right to self-determination. Kashmir is claimed by India and Pakistan, which rule over parts of it. Recognized by India, Pakistan, and United Nations Security Council in 1948, the right to self-determination to Kashmiris has been consistently denied by the Indian Government in the last seven decades. Anti-India sentiments are very high in Kashmir. A vast majority of Kashmiris support the merger with Pakistan, while the rest want to establish an independent State. According to the United Nations and human rights organizations, the Indian Government and security forces have committed grave human rights violations against Indigenous Kashmiris i-e extrajudicial killings, rapes, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, shooting peaceful protestors fatally, or using pellet guns to blind the civilians on a massive scale. India uses controversial sedition and terrorism laws long condemned by human rights organizations like Amnesty International as lawless laws to curb the dissent in Kashmir to detain peaceful civilians arbitrarily. Booking medical students over cricket match celebration in criminal cases under anti-terror laws is a heinous and harrowing human rights abuse. Nevertheless, the global silence over India's atrocities is more harrowing to maintain and forward its settler-colonial agenda. The crime of these students was nothing but to exercise their freedom of speech and expression. The families have appealed to the Government to release their loved ones. Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right according to the Universal Declaration of Human rights, Ban on freedom of speech is against article 19 (1)(a) of the Indian constitution that says, 'all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression.' 'Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one's own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures, or any other mode.' India claims to be the largest democracy in the world. Yet, the world is silent over the lawless settler-colonial tactics of the world's 'so-called' largest democracy. Arresting medical and engineering students for supporting a particular sports team shows the fears of the Indian Government and frustration over their failure to colonize Kashmir successfully. According to independent estimates, India is using the brutal force of over 600,000 to 900,000 security forces in an area 132 km in length and 35 km in width, making it the most militarized region globally. Yet, the Indian Government is frustrated that this massive force can't discipline Kashmiris to support India in the cricket match. Using anti-terror laws to detain the civilian population is a shameless settler-colonial tactic arbitrarily, which should be condemned by the United Nations, governments, and human rights organizations worldwide. Tazeen Hasan is a research fellow and campaign lead against arbitrary detention at Justice For All Canada. |
