'GoI wants to convert Kashmir jails into Guantanamo'

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and regional PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday alleged that government of India (GoI) wants to convert the jails in the valley into infamous Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

“Prisoners are entitled to fundamental human rights & using brute force to quell protests is a clear violation. Pertinent to mention that inmates protested after alleged desecration of Quran. GoI wants to turn Kashmir into an open-air prison & convert actual jails into Guantanamo (sic),” she said in a tweet.

Her comments came in the backdrop of a protest held by the family members of the inmates at Central Jail in Srinagar against the violence that took place in the detention centre earlier this month.

A local newspaper reported that the inmates of Central the Jail have gone on a hunger strike to press for their demands including withdrawal of FIR against them in connection with the violence that broke out in the prison on April 5.

The other demands included the transfer of jail Superintendent and that they shall not be shifted to outside jails.