London: Daughter of the incarcerated Kashmiri resistance leader, Shabir Shah has started an online campaign seeking release of her father who has spent more than 33 years in different jails so far only for demanding a resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
A 1st year college student, 19 years young Sehar Shabir Shah is also seeking release of other Kashmiri prisoners through her #FreeShabirShah and #freepoliticalprisoners campaign. She is tagging not only world human rights organizations like UN Human Rights Council but also office of the PM of India and the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Due to continuous imprisonment of her father, Sehar Shabir has developed psychological problems.
Having spent more time in jails than any other political prisoner of the world “I felt always on meeting my father Shabir Shah that his resolve for Kashmir has risen as it ever was,” says Sehar adding “despite hardships of a notorious jail inflicted on him he is a hard nut to crack standing all alone for a cause he started at the age of 14 and for the fact that the world around him is fast changing to suit its own interests.”
The current Covid-19 spread has increased the worries of Shabir Shah’s and other prisoner’s families because there are reports that many inmates have already developed symptoms.
Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) chief, Shabir Shah is undergoing imprisonment at Tihar jail, Delhi since July 2017 after he was abducted by the Indian investigating agency NIA from Srinagar.
Shabir Shah is among the front run resistance leaders of Kashmir who always stood for the peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute. For his different political opinion India has always put Shabir Shah behind bars to silence his political voice. He was termed “prisoner of Conscience” by human rights watchdog Amnesty International, in May 1995.
Lodged in Tihar jail, Delhi, Shabir Shah is presently suffering from many ailments and his health is deteriorating after every passing day. Reports suggest that dozens of other Kashmiri prisoners languishing in different jails of India are also suffering from ailments and are not being treated properly.
