Srinagar, May 03: Family of jailed separatist leader Muhammad Yasin Malik Friday expressed worry over his well-being and said the government would be responsible if anything bad happened to him.
A Delhi court last week sent Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Malik, arrested in a case related to funding of separatists and militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir, to judicial custody till May 24. He is lodged in Tihar Jail.
“If he is a prisoner, then a prisoner has certain rights and should he not get those rights? Why has he (Malik) been subjected to solitary confinement? The case or the (Public) Safety Act is fine, but we are extremely worried about his well-being. He won’t sustain for long in that cage,” the family said addressing a press conference at Malik’s Maisuma residence here.
“His condition is serious; he can’t even stand on his legs. This is an irony that a person having multiple heath disorders has been kept all alone in a separate cell,” Malik’s sister told media.
She appealed the civil society to raise its voice against “ill-treatment” meted out to her brother by jail authorities.
She alleged that jail authorities by barring Malik’s family to meet him, and denying his prisoner’s rights, are violating the jail manual as well.
“We are not against his trial nor do we oppose his confinement because jail is his next home and we too are familiar with it. But the fact of matter is that a prisoner cannot be denied his rights. He cannot be kept alone in a cage,” she added.
Malik’s sister said when she met her brother last time at Tihar jail, he told her that he has been kept in a separate cell and haven’t seen any human ever-since he was shifted there. She also said that the jail authorities even didn’t allow her to give him some books.
“How long will my brother face this cruelty? Isn’t he a human being? Why is he is being punished so harshly, has he done any heinous crime? We only demand that he kept with other prisoners so that he won’t suffer anymore and succumb to depression,” added Malik’s sister.
The family said they were not against the case registered against the JKLF chairman, “but God forbid if anything bad happened to Malik, the government would be responsible”.
The JKLF chief is also facing charges of kidnapping and murder for being allegedly involved in abducting Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1989, and killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in 1990.
The JKLF was recently banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
