ISLAMABAD ( WNAM REPORT): Senior leader All Parties Hurriyat Conference and Chairman of Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement, Altaf Ahmed Bhat, has expressed deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating health conditions of prominent Kashmiri political prisoners languishing in Indian jails. He said that India’s continued use of detention as a tool of slow and silent execution must be called out and challenged by the global community before more lives are lost in custody.
Bhat strongly condemned the Indian authorities for systematically denying medical treatment and basic human dignity to Kashmiri political detainees. He particularly highlighted the case of Shabir Ahmed Shah, who has spent nearly 38 years in Indian prisons and is now suffering from prostate cancer. Despite his critical medical condition and urgent need for treatment, Shah remains incarcerated in Delhi’s Tihar Jail under appalling conditions, with no access to family or adequate healthcare.
Raising further concern, Bhat stated that Yasin Malik continues to suffer in solitary confinement, facing multiple untreated health complications; Asiya Andrabi is enduring chronic respiratory and orthopedic issues; while Zaffar Akbar Bhat, who previously suffered a brain hemorrhage, remains imprisoned without any continuous medical monitoring or proper neurological care, putting his life at serious risk.
Bhat also drew attention to the deteriorating condition of Dr. Abdul Hameed Fayyaz, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami in IIOJK, who is also suffering from illness in custody. “It is clear that there is a consistent and targeted pattern of medical negligence toward Kashmiri prisoners of conscience,” he said.
He further recalled the tragic custodial deaths of Ashraf Sehrai and Altaf Fantoush, both of whom were detained in poor health, systematically denied timely and adequate medical attention, and ultimately died in custody. “These were not natural deaths—they were planned assassinations carried out through neglect. This is now India’s well-documented tactic: to eliminate Hurriyat leadership not on the streets, but in cells,” Bhat stated.
Altaf Ahmed Bhat also criticized the ongoing misuse of draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA), which continue to be used to detain Kashmiris—political leaders, students, journalists, and activists—without fair trial or evidence, often for years. He stated that these arbitrary detentions and deliberate medical neglect are clear violations of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Appealing to the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), European Union, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and international human rights watchdogs including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Bhat called for urgent intervention. He demanded the immediate release of all ailing political prisoners or their transfer to hospitals under humanitarian parole for specialized treatment and care.
