Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemns arrests of senior advocates in Kashmir

Srinagar: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday expressed serious concern over the arrests of senior advocates in Kashmir in the past few weeks and urged the judiciary to take steps against such "arbitrary" measures as they would impact the court cases of hundreds of people.

The Hurriyat leader said, while addressing the congregation at the Jama Masjid in Srinagar, that the arrests of senior functionaries and advocates of the J&K High Court Bar Association (Kashmir) at night and slapping of Public Safety Act against them was an authoritarian move. He said the government should shun the policy of force and arbitrariness and show compassion towards people as all matters can be addressed through dialogue.

"Senior and reputed advocates who are an important part of civil society are being treated in this authoritarian manner... there are reports... that more such arrests will continue in the coming days," said the chief cleric. "If lawyers are put behind bars, who will fight people's cases in courts? Who will defend their judicial rights?" he asked. Mirwaiz further said that in such a situation it is incumbent upon the judiciary, including judges, to take notice of the matter and intervene to do the needful. The Hurriyat leader urged the administration to discontinue the policy of arbitrary arrests and release the lawyers.