Mumbai: After denying Kashmiri prisoners any relief from Delhi’s oppressive heat this summer, the Tihar prison administration has now imposed a new restriction, barring them from their rightful weekly phone calls with family members. This latest unwritten diktat, specifically targeting incarcerated Kashmiris, defies favourable court orders secured by many of these prisoners since their arrests.
Families of the prisoners, interviewed by The Wire, report that while there is no official written order, the prisoners were verbally informed by the prison authorities about the abrupt denial of phone call service. For over a week, the families have been unable to make their regular weekly calls.
Phone calls are the only way that the Kashmiri prisoners manage to stay connected with their families, who live in parts of Kashmir over 1,000 kilometres away from the nation’s capital. Travelling this long a distance is neither economically nor logistically feasible for most, especially for young children some of whom have both parents facing incarceration.
‘Court application to speak to families’
Almost all of these Kashmiri prisoners lodged in Tihar are facing trial in the National Investigations Agency court in Delhi, primarily for their political convictions. The prisoners who managed to make their last call to their families before the restrictions were imposed informed them that the prison authorities have instructed them to file a fresh application before the court if they wish to speak to their families.
This restriction is not just bizarre but also a clear violation of the court order.
For instance, Asiya Andrabi, a separatist leader, has been lodged in Tihar since 2018. Andrabi was allowed phone calls with her sons and other family members through a court order issued on July 13, 2023. The order does not specify any timeline and hence remains applicable until it is revoked by the same court or a higher judiciary. Interestingly, neither the NIA nor the prison authorities have filed any application before the court but have simply asked Andrabi and many others like her to move the court if they want to stay in touch with their families.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
