Cancer Patient From Kashmir Held Under PSA In UP's Bareilly Jail, Family Moves Court

Authorities in Kashmir have detained a cancer patient from Kulgam district under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) and has been sent to jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly. The family has now moved to J-K High Court seeking release of their son on medical grounds. Police have called Parvaiz Ahmad Palla, 33, “threat to safety and security of general public and sovereignty of the nation”.

Palla, on life saving drugs, was booked under PSA on August 7. The act allows detention for up to two years without a trial. 

Hundreds have been arrested in Kashmir ever since Narendra Modi-government decided to scrap provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Parliament of India has also approved the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.  

Doctors in Kashmir’s prime hospital SKIMS say, Palla has to undergo “regular follow-up for further management of the disease and has to attend outpatient services on regular basis”.

Dossier against Palla reads: “The subject has links with unlawful association and has been providing every logistic support to militants of banned organisation, who are carrying unlawful and subversive activities to secede the state of J&K from Union of India. As such, the activities of subject are highly prejudicial to the security of the state. It is apprehended that if the subject is free, the subject may plot any subversion or may join militant ranks, which can cause threat to safety and security of general public and sovereignty of the nation.”

Earlier, Palla was named in an FIR (83/2017) at Kulgam Police Station.

According to the Indian Express, Palla’s father Mohammad Ayub Palla said he was not allowed to take his medicine when he was arrested. “On August 15, I went to Bareilly to meet him but officials told me they have directions not to allow any meeting. When I requested them to at least give him his medicines, they refused,” he said.