People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, seeking the return of prisoners lodged in different jails across the country.
Addressing a media gathering after attending the hearing of her PIL before the Chief Justice, she said, “Courts are our last hope.”
“Behind every number and every case, there is a story: a mother waiting for her son, a father growing old in silence, a child sleeping each night without knowing when their parent will return,” she said.
She asserted that the issue of detainees was not political but deeply humanitarian, saying that the young men imprisoned from Jammu and Kashmir were not mere numbers, as they have been treated by the Union government, but sons of the soil who deserve dignity, justice, and a chance to rebuild their lives.
Years have passed since hundreds of young men were lodged in jails far from their homes, in Agra, Bareilly, Haryana, and other states.
Their families are struggling to make ends meet, let alone visit their sons, as majority of the youth in these jails belong to humble backgrounds without much financial strength. “This is not the idea of India that our Constitution envisions,” she said.
She urged the Chief Justice to initiate comprehensive reforms in the criminal justice system of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that prisoners should be lodged within their home region so that their families can visit them and they can receive a fair trial.
The High Court, led by the Chief Justice, took up the matter earlier in the day, and the government is expected to submit its detailed response at the next hearing.
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