Senior People’s Democratic Party leaders — Naeem Akhtar and Sartaj Madni — completed hundred days in preventive detention on Friday.
Both the leaders were detained by Jammu and Kashmir police on 21 December last year a day before counting of votes for District Development Council (DDC) polls in J-K, reported a local news agency, KDC.
A senior PDP leader told the agency that both detained leaders have completed 100 days of fresh detention “without any charge or trial”, adding that “the only crime duo committed is they fought for the idea of democracy”.
Meanwhile, daughter of detained Akhtar, Shehryar Khanum told the agency that her father has been detained “without any solid evidence”, and keeping in view health conditions of her ailing father, she requested the administration to review his detention several times but hasn’t received any updates on that.
“Preventive detention in my father’s case makes no sense as from the time he was released previously and till he was taken another time, there is no public record of him having called any disruption or threat to peace,” Khanum added.
She said: “My father has served on top posts in the earlier government including spokesperson and suddenly declaring such a person as a threat to peace is unusual and authorities need to come up with solid reasons of his detention as till date they haven’t received any formal detention order in this regard.”
Earlier, many political leaders, including from the National Conference, had called for immediate release of all political detainees saying “the unjustified and prolonged detentions reek of fear and repression.” (KDC)
