Author: Al Jazeera
Published on: 05/05/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Shakeela was waiting for her son, 24-year-old Faizyaab, to be freed from an Indian jail. Most of the people behind bars are widely regarded as political prisoners. The hopes many Kashmiri families held that the formation of a regional government would lead to the release of their loved ones have been crushed. The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between the South Asian nuclear powers since their independence from the British rule in 1947. The conflict intensified after an armed rebellion against New Delhi’s rule began on the Indian side in 1989. Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed there, including nearly 14,000 civilians, 5,000 Indian security personnel and 22,000 rebels. Voter turnout surged at about 64 percent, higher than 58.5 percent turnout during the 2024 general elections. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC), a pro-India political party that promised the release of political prisoners, won 42 of the 90 assembly seats. There has been no clarity since on whether the Kashmiri political prisoners will be freed. Shakeela voted for the NC, hoping a regional government after a decade would bring her son home. Shakeela separated from her husband a decade ago. They had been living there with three other members of the family since she separated. “They [police] told me he would be back in a few days, but days turned into months and months into years,” she told Al Jazeera. Ishrat’s brother was booked under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) in June 2023 for allegedly being an “overground” associate of the rebels. The PSA allows the arrest and detention without trial of any individual, with no warrant or specific charge, for a period of up to two years. Since 2018, more than 1,100 people jailed under the PSA have been relocated to prisons outside Kashmir. Ishrat said every member of her family voted, assured a new government would take decisive action in the matter. She said if her brother committed a crime, he should be punished as per the law, but held in a jail in Kashmir. Kashmiri academic and political analyst Sheikh Showkat Hussain tells Al Jazeera that “arrests have consistently been used to deprive individuals of their personal liberty in Kashmir” he says holding people in prisons outside the region makes their ordeal even harder.
Original: 1895 words
Summary: 387 words
Percent reduction: 79.58%