NC Mps Meet Amit Shah, Urge Restoration Of Statehood

New Delhi- Rajya Sabha members of the National Conference have urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to initiate time bound steps for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and to review, on humanitarian grounds, the policy of lodging prisoners from the Union Territory in jails outside the region.

In a joint memorandum submitted on Monday, NC MPs Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, Gurwinder Singh Oberoi and Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo said they were placing before the Home Minister their collective concerns on issues of constitutional, democratic and humanitarian importance for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Raising concern over the continued lodging of prisoners outside the Union Territory, the MPs said thousands of families, including mothers, children and elderly parents, are suffering due to long distances, financial hardship and legal hurdles involved in meeting their incarcerated relatives.

They said representations received by them describe severe hardship, including exhausting travel, restrictive prison procedures and prolonged waiting periods.“We have met mothers who wish to see their sons once before they die, and children who have grown up knowing their fathers only through photographs,” the memorandum said.

The MPs pointed out that in several cases detainees continue to remain incarcerated despite serious charges not having been proven. They argued that keeping prisoners lodged far from home amounts to punishment for poverty rather than guilt, and stressed that Kashmiri citizens deserve dignity, justice and compassion.

“A Kashmiri is not a born criminal, nor a threat. A Kashmiri is a human being and an Indian citizen, deserving of dignity and fairness,” the MPs said, urging the Home Minister to review the policy and consider releasing those against whom no serious charges are established.

On the issue of statehood, the NC leaders recalled assurances made by the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister regarding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. They also referred to the Supreme Court's December 2023 judgment on challenges related to Article 370, in which the apex court recorded the Union government's assurance that statehood would be restored at the earliest.

The MPs said that following elections and the formation of an elected government, the people of Jammu and Kashmir now legitimately expect these assurances to be honoured. They said the continued delay in restoring statehood is causing democratic, administrative and emotional distress, and is increasingly being viewed as a denial of constitutional dignity.

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