kolkatapost: Fwd: [bangla-vision] Kashmiris cannot be oppressed much longer, says Ali Raza Syed

Monday, May 23, 2011

Fwd: [bangla-vision] Kashmiris cannot be oppressed much longer, says Ali Raza Syed

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Habib Yousafzai <yousafzai49@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:22 AM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Kashmiris cannot be oppressed much longer, says Ali Raza Syed

Kashmiris cannot be oppressed much longer, says Ali Raza Syed

May 22, 2011

Press Release:

Chairman Kashmir Council EU, Ali Raza Syed has said, Kashmiris cannot be oppressed much longer. How long can India deny the Kashmiris right to self-determination by resorting repressive measures?

In a statement in connection with Martyrdom week, he paid tribute to martyred liberation leaders including Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Farooq and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone. He said that the Kashmiris were the masters of their destiny who should be allowed to decide their future by themselves.

Referring to the imposition of curfew and restrictions in Srinagar, yesterday, he said that the government of India and its regime in the held territory were playing a dangerous game by usurping the democratic rights of the Kashmiri people.

Chairman Kashmir Council EU however appreciated the recent Action of Amnesty International on a case of a teenager detained without charges in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK).

Amnesty International in its statement said, the Jammu and Kashmir authorities must immediately release or charge a teenage anti-government protester who was rearrested this week after spending three months in administrative detention.

Murtaza Manzoor, 17, was briefly released from prison on Wednesday after the High Court found that his administrative detention was unlawful. He was immediately rearrested by police.

"The police in Jammu and Kashmir are playing a game with the judiciary. Courts order a person's release only for the police to wait outside prison to re-arrest him. This farce should be stopped," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director.

"Murtaza Manzoor must be released immediately, unless he is charged with a recognizable criminal offence. If so, he should be remanded in custody by an independent court and his rights as a child should be recognized. The authorities must not order his repeat administrative detention."

Although he is 17 years old Murtaza Manzoor is being treated as an adult because the laws of Jammu and Kashmir define boys above the age of 16 as adults. This contravenes both Indian law and the UN Convention on the rights of the child.

Chairman Kashmir Council EU said, at least 322 people are reported to have been detained without trial under the provisions of the Public Safety Act in IHK from January to September 2010 alone.

A number of them, including children, have been detained on similar grounds of stone pelting and rioting during various protests against the Indian government throughout the summer of 2010. Ali Raza Syed called upon the International community to pressurize India to stop atrocities against the people of Jammu and Kashmir.