Srinagar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para on Sunday appealed to the central government to announce general amnesty for those booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to media persons, Para welcomed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement to remove AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) in a phased manner in Kashmir valley.
“The bigger than the AFSPA is UAPA under which youth of the valley are serving in jails. I have been booked under UAPA twice and put in jail,” the PDP candidate said.
He said the Kashmiri youth booked under UAPA and put in outside jails should be pardoned and set free under a general amnesty and national integration programme.
He said, “His party will work for it and try our level best that under a general mass amnesty programme Kashmiri youth lodged in jails should be released through the reintegration programme.”
He said the central government should start a process to check case-to-case of all those Kashmiri youth who are in jails and to see where there is possibility they should be pardoned and released.
“The main issue of Jammu and Kashmir is presently there is lull everywhere. People are feeling suffocated and don’t speak”, he said and added, “An atmosphere has been created due to the Parliament elections that people are coming out of their homes to express their views and listen to others.”
Para said, ” The biggest initiative of our party would be that people should feel that they are being heard.”
“Not only in Kashmir or it’s lanes or by-lanes but in the highest House of the India Parliament. The people should be feel they are being heard and we will try our level best that voices from the land of Kashmir should reach to Parliament,” Para added.