Srinagar, December 27: The year 2011 has been of repeated grief and an endless battle for 40-year-old Tabasum, as her son, Murtaza Manzoor of Maharaj Gunj Srinagar, has been detained under the draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA) for the third time this year.
Tabasum talking to media men in Srinagar said, “The police have held Murtaza again. They have slapped PSA on him after his arrest on October 2. He has already been detained twice for a total of four months earlier this year.” She said that her son was a minor and he would be 18, next year. How can the forces detain him again and again under harsh laws?” she asked.
“My son is in worst condition facing chill and infection in police station. His education has also been affected,” Tabasum said.
This frail woman along with her husband has been waging a battle moving from one police officer to another for her son’s release. According to Advocate Mir Shafqat Hussain, who has been pleading his case, said the grounds of his detention were illegal. “Police arrested Murtaza on October 2 from SMHS Hospital where he accompanied an injured,” he said.
“He was released on bail by the court of First Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar but the police didn’t release him and continued his illegal detention,” Hussain said.
Advocate Hussain said, “The cops of police station Kaksarai arrested him who handed him over to Police Chowki Urdu Bazaar. He was finally taken to MR Gunj police station. The police booked him under an FIR 67/2011.”
“He was released on bail by the court of First Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar but the police didn’t release him and continued his illegal detention,” Hussain said. “They (police) at police station always give me slips referring to SSP Srinagar but I never get a positive response from him,” Tabasum said.
While Murtaza’s father Manzoor Ahmad, an auto-rickshaw owner, has to go to work and take care of his little son and his ailing parents, Tabasum runs from pillar to post, meeting advocates, to prove that her son has done no wrong. On December 22, global human rights watchdog Amnesty International published on its website “Teenager Held for Third Time without Charge”, had also called for release of Murtaza.
“Eighteen year old Murtaza Manzoor has been held under black law, Public Safety Act by the police. He has already been detained twice for a total of four months earlier this year,” Amnesty said. sources GK, KMS