Qaiser Dar
Srinagar 8 December (KNB): Families of the three Kashmiri men, who were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on Monday, staged a protest in Srinagar seeking their release.
Amid the rains, the old women, men and children of the three families cried for the release of the arrested men.
Along with her two children, wife of one other arrested Mohd Ayoub Pathan cried, “Who will do justice with us? Who will take care these innocent souls? He (Pathan) has never done anything wrong or illegal in his life.”
Another relative of one of the arrested men said, “My son went to Delhi to buy material for the work he does at home and now he has been labeled as a militants.
I want to ask the Lt Governor (Manoj Sinha) do you have any idea about the levels of our suffering when we hear such news.”
He further asked, “Why are we suffering? Why are our young suffering?”
He added that our children travel to different cities (of India) to study and work but then they are arrested, labeled as militants, fierce militants…this is oppression. India says that Kashmir is its crown, but today we have understood, it’s nothing like that. All of it is fake, we’ve been deceived.
With tears rolling down the face, father of another arrested Kashmiri Riyaz Ahmed Rather, “I urge the government to release him. What sins have we done? He only went to buy things from Delhi, he is not a militant.”
He added, “They should confirm the truth from all the sources they (government) have, my son is not a militant and neither is he involved in any militant outfit.”
Three Kashmiri men who were arrested by police hail from Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. They are Reyaz Ahmed Rather and Shabir Ahmed Gojri, both residents of Nasrullah Pora and Muhammad Ayoub Pathan of Gondhipora village.
The protestors mostly women told Kashmir News Bureau, “We have seen in past how Kashmiri men were implicated in false case and after spending years together in Jails were acquitted by the court of law.”
Families holding the posters of the three arrested men urged the Lt. Governor to confirm the authenticity of these allegations against their children and appealed to release them.
Pertinently, the Special Cell of Delhi Police on Monday arrested five suspected militants after an encounter with the police in Delhi’s Shakarpur area.
As per officials, initial probe suggests that the five, two from Punjab and three from Jammu and Kashmir, have links to Khalistan and Islamic militant organizations. (KNB)