While the Supreme Court of India has belatedly issued an order for the release of prisoners on parole in view of the COVID19 pandemic assuming dangerous proportions, the road to freedom for political prisoners is far away. Last week saw the passing away of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chief, suave, gentleman visionary and ideologue of Kashmir’s freedom Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai at a hospital in Jammu, where he was brought from prison. The Sikh nationalist body Dal Khalsa has mourned his death and The Dal Khalsa mourned the demise of the Kashmir leader, incarcerated under the Public Safety Act since last July and called him a friend of the Sikhs and a supporter of the right to self-determination of the people of Punjab.

LEADERS OF DAL KHALSA -a pro-freedom Sikh group from Punjab expressed their heartfelt condolences on Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai’s death, reminiscing him as a man of principles and commitment.

Praying for strength to his family, Hurriyat colleagues and the people of Kashmir, Dal Khalsa mourned the loss of the “true representative of the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.”

The 77-year-old pro-Kashmiri freedom leader, known to follow the footsteps of Hurriyat patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was imprisoned under the Public Safety Act (PSA) by the J-K administration in July last year and was presently under detention in Jammu prison.  Originally a Jamaat-e-Islami ideologue from the frontier district of Kupwara, Sehrai co-founded the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat along with  Kashmiri nationalist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Release all political prisoners in Kashmir.

Thereek-e-Hurriyat

“Mohammad Sehrai Sahib has left this world with the dream of an independent and sovereign Kashmir still unfulfilled and a big leadership vacuum as the old and ailing Geelani is bedridden and under house arrest and the comparatively younger leaders imprisoned.”

As per a government communique, he was admitted to GMC Jammu after his health deteriorated in the Jammu prison and had been suffering from multiple ailments. As per the report COVID19 was discovered posthumously.

Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh, while speaking to World Sikh News said, “Sehrai Sahib was a genuine friend of Sikhs of Punjab. Like the people of Kashmir, we too have lost a sympathizer and supporter. He was a towering political personality, who would be remembered for sacrificing his life for the just cause of Kashmir.”

“Sehrai Sahib was a genuine friend of Sikhs of Punjab. Like the people of Kashmir, we too have lost a sympathizer and supporter. “

Kanwar Pal Singh, Spokesperson, Dal Khalsa

Cutting across party and ideology lines, Kashmiri leaders of all hues and shades have mourned Sehrai’s death. The Kashmir media, under threat of the state because of an unannounced embargo on news of pro-freedom outfits, barely published the news of his death.

Afraid even in his death, under strict police and military escort, with a handful of relatives, the body of chairman of Theerek-e-Hurriyat Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai was laid to rest at the family burial ground in his paternal village with only close family offering prayers and paying last respects. No one else was allowed anywhere near the home of the man whose insurgent son Junaid Ashraf Khan, died fighting the security forces in 2018.

“My father was not given proper treatment in prison and in his phone call to us, he too was complaining about this.”

Mujahid Sehrai, son of Hurriyat leader Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai

The deceased leader’s son Mujahid Sehrai has pointed out that even though they had moved court for his release on health grounds but the court was still to hear their prayer. He said, “My father was not given proper treatment in prison and in his phone call to us, he too was complaining about this.”

Extolling the qualities and contribution of Ashraf Sehrai, Hurriyat, in a press release said, “He was dedicated to his party and its ideology and worked tirelessly and selflessly for the people’s movement, suffering lockups and jails in the course of his life. Sehrai Saab’s contribution to the people’s movement will always be remembered and honoured….”

The government of India and the shadow administration in Jammu and Kashmir would do well to heed the advice of TeH -Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, that, “Despite repeated appeals to release political prisoners lodged in various jails on humanitarian grounds…authorities are playing with their lives. We once again ask Government authorities to release all political prisoners”.