Pakistan summons Indian Charge d’ Affaires over Hurriyat leader Altaf Shah’s death

Islamabad, Oct 12: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the Indian Charge d’ Affaires and lodged its strong protest over the alleged custodial death of separatist Hurriyat leader Altaf Ahmad Shah, the son-in-law of late pro-Pakistan Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

 

 

The jailed Kashmiri separatist leader passed away of renal cancer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi early on Tuesday morning. He was shifted to AIIMS for treatment a few days ago. In a tweet, Altaf Shah's daughter said he breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi "as a prisoner".

 

 

The Hurriyat leader, a resident of Soura locality of Srinagar, was arrested on July 25, 2017 with six others, in an alleged terror funding case probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and was lodged in Tihar jail. The Delhi High Court had on October 1 ordered that Shah be shifted to AIIMS in Delhi after he was stated to have been diagnosed with renal cancer. The court had also directed that his son or daughter be allowed to meet him for an hour every day.

 

In a statement, the Foreign Office alleged that the government of India “not only failed to provide satisfactory medical care to Shah who was suffering from renal cancer but also created inordinate delays in his hospitalisation and essential diagnostic tests”.

 

 

 

“It is evident that Altaf Ahmed Shah was victimised and punished because he was the son-in-law of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani and a true representative of the Kashmiri people,” it claimed. It demanded that the Indian government immediately investigate his death and hold to account all those responsible for it.