Pakistan expresses deep concern over Yasin Malik’s health

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of incarcerated Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik after he announced he would go on hunger strike “until death” beginning next month.

Malik has been incarcerated in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail since he was arrested in February last year under the Public Safety Act, a draconian law which has seen dozens of Kashmiri freedom activists detained for long stretches of time. In a statement released by his family last week, Malik said he would go on strike from April 1 until death to protest the Indian authorities’ denial of legal process. “The reports of Kashmiri leader’s announcement of going on an indefinite hunger strike from April 1, this year in protest against the false charge sheet framed by the Indian government against him under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Court in a 30 year old case are worrisome,” a Foreign Office press release said on Sunday. The Foreign Office added: “The victimisation of a political leader to suppress the voice of Kashmiris is highly condemnable.”

It urged the international community, the United Nations, human rights organisations and the global media to take notice of the Indian government’s “inhuman treatment of the Kashmiri leader who has been leading a peaceful freedom struggle for decades”.

“India must be urged to immediately release Yasin Malik and withdraw all false charges against him,” the statement added.

“India must realise that by incarcerating Kashmiri leaders, it cannot subjugate the people of Kashmir. The only way to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is the implementation of relevant UNSC resolutions that guarantee the Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self determination,” it added.

The Foreign Office noted that Malik has “serious medical conditions” and requires appropriate medical treatment under international conventions. It added that the timing of the case’s re-opening under TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) suggests that the “BJP government “is determined to punish the detained Kashmiri leader for resisting the illegal Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Meanwhile, the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), called on the UN to demand Malik’s immediate release. The WKAF is an organisation dedicated to promoting the realisation of the Kashmiri people’s UN-pledged right to self-determination.

In a statement, it expressed “deep distress” over Malik’s vow to go on an indefinite fast over “trumped-up” charges and called for ensuring his safety. “WKAF appeals to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to demand the unconditional release of Muhammad Yasin Malik and other political prisoners immediately and drop all its trumped-up charges against him and hundreds of other political prisoners,” the statement said.

“Further, WKAF demands that the United Nations mediate with the government of India to allow Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists and a delegation of Kashmiri American diaspora to travel to New Delhi to meet with Malik at an early date.