Srinagar: Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday claimed that the government of India (GoI) wants to turn the jails in Kashmir into infamous Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
“Prisoners are entitled to fundamental human rights & using brute force to quell protests is a clear violation. Pertinent to mention that inmates protested after alleged desecration of Quran. GoI wants to turn Kashmir into an open air prison & convert actual jails into Guantanamo,” Mehbooba said in a tweet.
Her comments came in the backdrop of a protest held by the family members of the inmates at Central Jail in Srinagar against the violence that took place in the detention centre earlier this month.
The protesters who had assembled at Press Enclave in Srinagar demanded that the FIRs registered against the inmates following the violence should be withdrawn.
“The concerned prison Superintendent of Police (SP) should be transferred and the First Information Report (FIR), related to April 5 incident, should be withdrawn against all the jail inmates,” said a protesters.
The protesters also demanded that the inmates should not be shifted to jails outside the state.
“We are poor labourers and can’t afford to travel to other states due to lack of resources. We request the authorities not to shift the inmates outside,” said another protester.
On April 5, intense clashes broke out inside the central jail after the prisoners protested over the construction of the new barracks.
