The Pakistan Bar Council has strongly condemned Indian government for extending the detention of key bar association figures and political leaders in occupied Kashmir under the draconian law, Public Safety Act.

High Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom, who has been elected to this office for 21 times, and General Secretary Ashraf Butt is illegally and arbitrarily detained by India at Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail for fearlessly demanding the right to self-determination for the Kashmiri people.

Syed Qalb-e-Hassan, the President of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, expressed his serious concern over the health condition of the aged lawyer leader, Mian Abdul Qayoom.

In a statement issued from Islamabad, he said Qayoom is suffering from various ailments including diabetes, kidney problem and needs urgent and unconditional medical treatment.

“Furthermore, it has been reported that Mian Abdul Qayoom has suffered a major heart attack during judicial custody following to which the High Court of occupied Kashmir last week while hearing a petition directed the authorities to provide him immediate medical assistance and required treatment,” he said.

However, the authorities in occupied Kashmir are continuously defying the court orders, he said. The SCBA President demanded that Mian Qayoom should have been shifted to a cardiac hospital equipped with all related cardiac facilities without any further delay.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders has also issued an urgent appeal against the arbitrary detention and deteriorating health of Abdul Qayoom.

The Bar Council of England and Wales and the Human Rights Committee of England also wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed their concern over the arrest of Bar leaders and other Kashmiri lawyers.