MUZAFFARABAD: The pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of its imprisoned chairman, Yasin Malik, and has renewed its appeal to world leaders, human rights organisations, and concerned voices in India to intervene and help save his life.

“The denial of adequate medical care to a prominent political prisoner of Mr Malik’s stature by the Indian government constitutes a grave human rights violation that demands urgent attention from international bodies, particularly human rights organisations and defenders,” said JKLF chief spokesperson Rafiq Dar in a statement.

Mr Malik, who began an indefinite hunger strike on Friday to protest the lack of adequate medical treatment from Delhi’s Tihar Jail authorities, is a chronic heart patient requiring lifelong anticoagulants and regular INR testing following a heart valve replacement surgery in 1992.

He has also faced significant health challenges, including facial nerve paralysis since 1990, left hydronephrosis since 2016, recurrent renal stones, and a renal cortical cyst, requiring five surgeries over the past 20 years.

Mr Dar maintained that Mr Malik had been unjustly targeted by the Narendra Modi-led government despite his commitment to a nonviolent, peaceful struggle for Kashmiri self-determination and his support for a dialogue-based resolution.

“A person like Yasin Malik, who believes in nonviolent resistance and a peaceful resolution, should not be punished for his political beliefs,” Mr Dar said.

“Peaceful advocacy for Kashmiri rights, including the right to self-determination — an aspiration supported widely by the Kashmiri people — cannot and should not be criminalised or met with inhumane treatment,” he added.

He lamented that despite court directives on petitions filed by his family and verbal assurances from authorities, including a recent assurance given following his last jail protest just two months ago, Mr Malik had still not received adequate medical care based on renewed assessments of his health condition.

Mr Dar lashed at the Tihar Jail authorities further for ‘deliberate neglect’ that had placed Mr Malik’s life in serious danger.

He expressed disappointment that despite widespread awareness within Indian political, judicial, and civil society circles of Mr Malik’s peaceful struggle and sacrifices, “short-sighted political and economic interests, coupled with bias, prevented them from acknowledging the truth and ensuring justice for this steadfast leader”.

Mr Dar also called upon the Kashmiri people on both sides of the ceasefire line and in the diaspora to pray for Mr Malik’s swift release and recovery.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024