He was to be freed, says family of Kashmiri man who died in UP jail under PSA detention

Mohammad Hanief, son of PSA detainee Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, says he travelled all the way to Prayagraj, only to find his father’s body.

Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, 65, was detained in the last week of July, before the Modi government scrapped Article 370 on 5 August | ThePrint

Srinagar: The Bhat family of Kulangam, north Kashmir, heard joyful news for the first time in over five months Friday, when it was told 65-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Bhat would be set free. Ghulam Mohammad had been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) at the Naini jail in Prayagraj (formerly known as Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, and the family was told the charges had been quashed on health grounds.         

At around 6 pm Friday, two policemen informed them that a relative, preferably a son, could now visit Ghulam Mohammad in jail and bring him home. But the joy turned out to be short-lived.

Ghulam Mohammad’s son, Mohammad Hanief, travelled all the way to Prayagraj, hoping to see his father for the first time in months; instead, he was left to stare at the lifeless his body. In the interim, officials announced that the senior Bhat had passed away at Naini jail at 4 pm Saturday.

“They told us that my father’s PSA had been quashed and that he was ill. The police informed us that I need to go to Uttar Pradesh and bring my father back, to which I said that our family did not have the money to travel,” Hanief said. “The next morning, they came back with an airline ticket and another person accompanied me to the jail. We kept moving until I reached the mortuary.” 

In Prayagraj, Hanief was asked to identify his father’s body, which was later taken for a post-mortem. Hanief flew back with Ghulam Mohammad’s body and reached Kulangam, a village in north Kashmir around 70 km from Srinagar, Sunday evening. He was buried at a local martyrs’ graveyard close to his home. 

Activist of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami 

Ghulam Mohammad, a lifelong activist of the Jamaat-e-Islami, was detained in the last week of July, just before the Modi government scrapped Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, on 5 August. His detention came two months after his release from a Srinagar prison, where he had been lodged since February, when his organisation was banned by the central government.

“Whereas, a perusal of dossier incriminatory material reveals that the subject has been involved in activities which are detrimental to peace and public order,” reads a copy of the PSA dossier on Ghulam Mohammad.  “It has been observed that the activities of the subject are highly prejudicial to peace and public order and warrant immediate measures, as normal law of the land has proved ineffective to deter him from indulging in repeated acts ODF subversion and violence.”

The family, however, denied charges that he was part of violent activities in Kashmir, saying he had been detained almost a dozen times, sometimes for just days and sometimes for months, for his social activism in the area.

Ghulam Mohammad’s detention in Prayagraj, according to his younger son Mushtaq Bhat, was, however, the most difficult. The family could never, since his detention, visit him in jail due to financial constraints, Mushtaq admitted.

“It turned out to be the worst nightmare for us,” he said.

According to Ghulam Mohammad’s wife Zareefa, he was physically fit before his detention and didn’t take any medication. She added that before his arrest, he spoke inside the mosque, bidding goodbyes and seeking forgiveness from neighbours and relatives.

“He said he is leaving for a pilgrimage soon. It was as if he knew he won’t come back anytime soon,” she said. “He didn’t until now. He is now back home in Kashmir.”