Pakistan protests death in jail of pro-freedom Kashmiri leader

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Wednesday demanded an investigation into the death in jail of Altaf Ahmed Shah, a prominent pro-freedom leader from Indian-administered Kashmir.

The demand was conveyed to the Indian charge d'affaires in Islamabad, who was summoned by the Foreign Ministry to protest Shah's "inhumane custodial" death.

The Kashmiri leader, who had been imprisoned for the past five years by Indian authorities, died earlier this week, just days after being diagnosed with late-stage renal cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.

“It was deplored that despite Pakistan’s expression of serious concerns over Altaf Ahmed Shah’s sharply deteriorating health, as well as his daughter’s letter addressed to the Indian Prime Minister apprising him of Mr Shah’s precarious health condition, the Indian government remained completely indifferent,” the ministry said in a statement.

Islamabad also demanded that his mortal remains be "promptly" returned to his family so that the deceased can be properly buried in accordance with their wishes.

New Delhi, the statement added, not only failed to provide satisfactory medical care to Shah, who was suffering from renal cancer but also created inordinate delays in his hospitalization and essential diagnostic tests.

“Even more heart-wrenching is the fact that the Indian authorities remained adamant in denying Mr. Shah’s family access to meet him while deliberately delaying the court hearing of his bail plea on humanitarian grounds,” it alleged.

Shah was victimized and punished because he was the son-in-law of revered pro-freedom leader Syed Ali Geelani and a “true representative of the Kashmiri people,” it added.

Recalling the “condemnable custodial” death of Hurriyat leader Ashraf Sehrai last year, after his victimization and arrest under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), the Indian diplomat was informed of Pakistan’s “grave apprehensions regarding the ruthless treatment meted out to Hurriyat Conference leaders including Muhammad Yasin Malik, Massarat Aalam Bhat, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Aasiya Andrabi and several others who have been facing “illegal detentions in fabricated” cases, according to the statement.

“Equally concerning is the fact that many of these Hurriyat leaders including Muhammad Yasin Malik are suffering from chronic ailments and require urgent medical attention,” it added.

At least four Kashmiri political prisoners have died in custody in Indian custody since 2019, the ministry alleged in the statement.

The statement claimed that at least four Kashmiri political prisoners have died in Indian custody since 2019.

The divided Himalayan Kashmir valley has been a major source of contention between the two nuclear rivals since their creation in 1947, with both sides claiming it fully.

The two neighbors have fought three wars – two over Kashmir in 1948 and 1965 – and a three-week skirmish in 1999 in Kashmir’s Kargil region.