People’s Conference chairperson Sajad Lone on Tuesday expressed concern over the health of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik who has been on hunger strike since last Friday.
Seeking “magnanimity” from the Government of India, Lone said, “Yasin’s health is already fragile. Let us hope magnanimity, spirit of forgiveness, fair and unbiased introspection define the state response.”
This is the second time in the last few weeks, when Lone has expressed concern for Malik, having earlier sought a “fair” trial for the separatist leader.
Malik, who has been on a hunger strike since Friday morning, was put on intravenous fluids (IV fluids) in Delhi’s Tihar jail, prison officials said on Monday.
The chief of banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), the 56-year-old began his indefinite strike after the Union government did not respond to his plea wherein he sought permission to physically appear in a Jammu court hearing for the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case, in which he is an accused.
Malik, who is undergoing life imprisonment in a terror funding case, had earlier said that he would go on a hunger strike from July 22 in Tihar jail if his demands of a fair trial and ensuring his physical presence in the courts were not fulfilled. He had moved an application seeking his personal appearance in two other cases – the Sayeed kidnapping and the killing of four air force officers, including squadron leader Ravi Khanna, trials for which are also underway.