Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) on Monday welcomed former Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud’s, statement that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, accused of instigating Delhi riots and languishing in jail since five years, should have been released on bail.
In a statement, AIP chief spokesperson Inam Un Nabi said, “Ex-chief justice of India’s statement is a ray of hope for hundreds of Kashmiris languishing in jails since years together who have been booked under UAPA and their trials are undergoing at very nominal pace. Former CJI’s statement must act as a catalyst to wake up the conscience of judiciary and other institutions and all Kashmiri political prisoners should be released. There is no justification to keep engineer Rasheed two-time MLA and now an elected MP still in jail, who is about to complete seven years in Tihar.”
“Engineer Rasheed has been victimised only for his political belief and the fact is, current government has failed to silence him for speaking for the rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir. His continuous detention is murder of justice and democracy. It is constitutional and moral duty of the judiciary to free engineer Rasheed from the Tihar jail, especially when former chief justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud has confessed that even few years in detention violates the rights of a person like Shahjehan Muhammad Umar Khalid,” he added.
