Hindustan Times (Jalandhar)

Srinagar MP meets Shah, seeks release of J&K prisoners

: Member of Parliament from Srinagar constituen­cy Ruhullah Mehdi on Saturday said that he met Union home minister Amit Shah and demanded release of J&K prisoners lodged in different Indian jails without trial.

Mehdi, who is a National Conference leader, took to ‘X’ saying he met Shah on Friday and asked him for the release of the hundreds of prisoners of J&K who are held without trials for years now.

“And, I also asked for the transfer of those who are under trials and not convicted yet, to the jails of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Mehdi said that most of the prisoners held without a trial were mostly young individual­s. “It is unfair on part of the government to hold these people at an age that is decisive for career and nation building. So, | believe their release to be imperative, and call upon the government to release the prisoners without a trial at the earliest,” he said.

Citing difference­s in weather conditions between Kashmir and rest of the country, he sought shifting of convicted and under-trials lodged in different jails of the country, back to the union territory.

“Those prisoners who are convicted or are undertrial should be shifted to the valley on humanitari­an aspects. It is also difficult for the relatives of these prisoners to meet them in the different parts of the country both physically and financiall­y,” he said in the letter.

Mirwaiz appeals to ‘leadership of India, Oppn’, pushes for release of political prisoners

Chief cleric of grand mosque in Srinagar and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has appealed to the leadership of the country and opposition to take note of the situation of the prisoners of Kashmir lodged in different jails of the country amid high temperatur­es and urged for steps for their ease and release.

Mirwaiz, in a video uploaded on ‘X’ on Saturday, of his Friday sermon in Jamia Masjid, said that he was concerned about the condition of Kashmiri political prisoners lodged in different jails in Jammu and Delhi in these hot temperatur­es.