APHC Chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has decided to wage a legal battle against BJP backed Jammu and Kashmir administration over his “arbitrary and illegal” detention. In a legal notice to J&K’s Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, Mirwaiz has threatened to challenge his “unwarranted” detention in court if the administration doesn’t lift the curbs imposed on him since 2019. Mirwaiz was put under house arrest along with other mainstream leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on 4th August 2019. While mainstream political leaders such as National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti were freed within months after J&K lost its statehood, two key Hurriyat hawks – Syed Ali Geelani and M. Ashraf Sehrai died while in detention. Several leaders and activists, including JKLF Chief Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan, were booked under terrorism charges and shifted to Tihar jail. Barring senior Hurriyat leaders Abdul Ghani Bhat and Bilal Gani Lone, who were also affiliated with the Mirwaiz-led APHC, all Hurriyat leaders are presently incarcerated. J&K’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has consistently maintained that there were no restrictions on Mirwaiz and that “he is free to go wherever he likes”. However, in the legal notice, Mirwaiz has rejected Sinha’s claims, saying that a “large contingent of security personnel” has been deployed outside his residence in Nigeen locality of Srinagar that “nullifies the aforesaid stand of lieutenant governor which speaks volumes”.
The legal notice sent by senior advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga, states that Mirwaiz has been subject to “miseries, mental torture and sense of insecurity” since he was detained, even though he is “known for his integrity and humanity” and “preaches the message of peace & love, strengthening of brotherhood and communal harmony”. “The unfortunate part is that my client has not been allowed to participate in funeral and burial proceedings of his close relatives & near ones and not only this, he has been prevented to perform and lead Friday congregational prayers which again is the violation of his right to religion”. Mirwaiz has alleged that his house arrest is a “violation of the fundamental and religious rights…guaranteed by the constitution”, according to the legal notice, which has also been marked to LG Sinha, DGP J&K Police Dilbag Singh and SSP Srinagar. The notice states, “All this has been done in view of events & episodes post abrogation of Article 370 & 35A which is violation of Article 21 & 25-28 and that requires to be prevented under law.” Mirwaiz has also alleged that he has been put under house arrest “illegally without serving of any order of detention” and the security personnel deployed outside his residence were stopping visitors from meeting him and also preventing him from coming out. Mirwaiz has claimed that he “suffered an irreparable loss in terms of various and serious health issues which he has been experiencing and confronting since his detention”. APHC said in a statement, “Without any written order or any charges against him, APHC chairman is undergoing arbitrary and extrajudicial detention, leading to the suspension of all his fundamental human rights and freedoms, and his responsibilities as the Mirwaiz of J&K.”
