Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Wednesday said the political detainees from J&K should be released on the humanitarian grounds in the wake of the third wave of pandemic, with growing cases of new variant Omicron, in India.
"In view of the onset of the third wave of Coronavirus and its new variant Omicron, the life of detainees, already in bad shape, is at great risk . They should be immediately released on humanitarian grounds giving respite to their families too who are constantly worried about their life," the Mirwaiz, who remains under house arrest since August 2019, said, in a statement.
He said there was a grave concern over the plight of Kashmiri political prisoners in various jails of Jammu and Kashmir and in the prisons across India.
"According to family sources most of the prisoners suffered from various ailments, aggravated due to prolonged imprisonment and lack of treatment and medical facilities available to them in prison," he said.
The Hurriyat also appealed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Amnesty International, Asia Watch, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take note of the issue of Kashmiri political prisoners.
"Our youth and activists are tremendously suffering in jails for their dissenting views and these bodies should push for their unconditional release," the Hurriyat said.
