'Khan Sopori Released Only After Paralytic Stroke In Haryana Jail'

The family members of 75-year-old senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, have said that the authorities of Jhajjar Jail in Haryana, India, released him only after he suffered a paralytic stroke

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2019 ) :The family members of 75-year-old senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, have said that the authorities of Jhajjar Jail in Haryana, India, released him only after he suffered a paralytic stroke.

According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS) , Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori was arrested by Indian police in February 2017 from his hometown Sopore. The occupation authorities lodged him at Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu after booking him under draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA).

He was later shifted to Jhajjar Jail in December, last year. The APHC leader was released last Friday from illegal detention of over 22 months after he suffered a paralytic stroke at the Jhajjar Jail.

Khan Sopori's son, Sajjad Ahmed, in an interview said that the fourth PSA against his father was quashed in December last but he was not released.

"It was only after my father suffered a paralytic stroke, and fearing that he might die they (jail authorities) handed him over to us in a critical condition," he said.

Sajjad Ahmed said that last Friday night (January 11) they received a call from Jhajjar Jail authorities that they were releasing Khan Sopori. "It was around 10 pm and we wondered why now, and why they did not inform us in advance. We called up a relative in Delhi and he went to Jhajjar jail and received my father. Then only we came to know that he has suffered a paralytic stroke," he said.

Sajjad Ahmed maintained that even after complaining of severe chest pain in jail, Khan Sopori was not provided proper medical care. "When he suffered a paralysis attack in the left side of his body, the jail authorities handed him over to us in half dead condition. This is how they treat our Kashmiri prisoners in jails, this is inhumane and brutal," he added.

Khan Sopori was behind the bars since February 2017. After he was shifted to Jhajjar Jail in December,his family had not been allowed to meet him. Presently he is under observation at Jamia Millia IslamiaHospital, New Delhi, and according to his family, doctors have advised for installing a pacemaker.