Srinagar, Feb 21: Reacting to the CID report which stated “Srinagar Central Jail was a hub for recruiting militants, with inmates establishing a parallel administrative set-up”, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik on Wednesday said “it is the aggressive policies of the state which are forcing youth towards militancy”.
In a joint statement issued here, the separatist trio termed the recent Criminal Investigation Department (CID) report regarding Central jail Srinagar as “illogical”.
They alleged that this was “a deliberate attempt to shift blame as it is not the central jail but actions of the police which were forcing youths to join militancy.”
“One inmate escaped from SMHS Hospital but five others who were with him at the hospital returned to jail on their own. Nobody is discussing this aspect of the story but instead those who chose to return are now being victimised and terrorised by the police, CID and agencies, and are being blamed for recruiting militants,” they alleged.
They were referring to Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jhatt’s escape from SMHS Hospital here.
“Following recent escape of an inmate from SMHS Hospital, so-called rulers, their agencies and police have started panelizing political prisoners and other inmates especially at Central jail Srinagar,” they said.
They said blaming traditional Ameer-i-Zindan for militancy is a “blatant lie”.
“From Mahaz-i-Raishumari days in 1960’s, Ameer-i-Zindan institution has been a forum facilitating good relations between jail authorities and prisoners,” they said.
“Blaming this institution is a deliberate attempt to shift blame as it is not the central jail or other raison d’être but it is police torture, humiliation and aggression that is responsible for new youth joining armed struggle,” they said.
Holding “iron fist” policies of the government responsible for youth joining militancy, they said “from 2008 up to present time, Kashmiris at the behest of international community transformed their struggle and started a new non-violent revolution… but instead of honoring this peaceful gesture of Kashmiris, India chose to crush it with iron fist and killed hundreds of young, old, men and women including children with impunity.
“During these years, thousands of young Kashmiris who joined peaceful resistance were arrested, tortured, maimed, and humiliated by police and agencies. Police stations have been turned to worst torture centers were besides beating these young boys, their mothers, sisters and families are being showered abuses and humiliated with utmost shamelessness.”
They said that “this police and agency behavior was and is responsible for pushing our new generation towards armed struggle and not some jail inmates who are being victimized for the crimes committed by so-called rulers and their authorities.”
They said “victimizing Kashmiri inmates on the pretext of an escape is actually a part of ‘Operation All Out’ that is going on at all levels to defeat Kashmiri resistance.”
