Kashmiri prisoners denied weekly phone calls in Tihar despite court order

Defying the court orders, the Tihar jail authorities are said to be imposing restrictions on Kashmiri prisoners amid oppressive summer heat without adequate relief; the latest is the denial of their weekly phone calls with family members.

Despite favourable court orders allowing these phone calls, the Tihar prison administration has imposed an unwritten restriction specifically targeting Kashmiri prisoners. Families report that the prison authorities verbally informed prisoners of the abrupt cessation of phone call services, leaving them unable to communicate with their loved ones for over a week, The Wire reported.

This denial of phone calls not only violates court orders but also breaches the Delhi Prison Manual, which guarantees reasonable communication facilities for prisoners to manage family affairs and legal matters.

Kashmiri prisoners in Tihar are primarily facing trial in the National Investigations Agency court in Delhi, with many incarcerated due to their political convictions. The prisoners have been instructed by prison authorities to file fresh applications before the court to regain the right to speak to their families, despite existing court orders that grant them this privilege.

One prominent case is that of Asiya Andrabi, a separatist leader who has been in Tihar since 2018. A court order issued on July 13, 2023, explicitly allowed her daily phone calls with her family, a reiteration of an earlier 2022 order.

However, despite the clear directive, the prison authorities have imposed a new restriction without any written mandate or court revocation, compelling Andrabi's family to challenge this arbitrary decision once again, The Wire report claimed.

The impact of prolonged incarceration without regular communication has been devastating for both the prisoners and their families. Most Kashmiri prisoners in Tihar have been in jail for nearly a decade, awaiting trial. Their families, residing over 1,000 kilometres away in Kashmir, cannot afford the economic or logistical burden of frequent visits, making phone calls their only means of maintaining contact.

The denial of phone calls follows another severe hardship faced by the Kashmiri prisoners this summer. The prison authorities allegedly refused to provide adequate cooling equipment during Delhi's extreme heat, with temperatures soaring up to 50°C.

Many prisoners fell seriously ill, suffering from blisters and other heat-related ailments. The prison administration's failure to address these conditions led prisoners to speak out, which some relatives believe prompted the recent communication restrictions as a punitive measure.

Relatives and advocates for the prisoners argue that this treatment constitutes a form of collective punishment for the Kashmiri inmates' vocal opposition to their harsh conditions. The lack of clear communication from prison officials has fuelled speculation about the reasons behind these new restrictions. The Wire's attempts to contact the Superintendent of Jail No. 6 and other prison officials have so far been met with silence or refusal to comment, leaving the situation unresolved.