J&K govt may pardon man for dissent after disabled mother writes to Mufti

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said her government will consider giving amnesty to a 23-year-old man, who has been languishing in jail, after his mother made an appeal for his release.

"In keeping with our commitments to dialogue & (and) social inclusion, we have decided to consider amnesty for 23-year-old Sheikh Danish Mushtaq, a resident of Aloosa Bandipora," Mufti wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The chief minister's statement came just a day after the handicapped mother of the youth wrote an open letter to her, seeking amnesty for her incarcerated son.

Fahmeeda wrote to Mufti on Saturday saying her son was languishing in jail for many years for raising his voice against "injustice".

"I am the handicapped mother of Mushtaq, who has been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) several times during the past few years on account of being an activist in separatist politics. I saw a ray of hope when you announced amnesty for hundreds of youths, but it deepened my wounds when I did not find of my lone son's name on the list," she wrote.

She said her son had been slapped with PSA and lodged in different jails, and was in detention despite the judiciary quashing the charges against him.

She claimed her son always advocated peaceful forms of agitation and believed in non-violence, and asked the chief minister to consider the case on "urgent humanitarian grounds".