Srinagar MP Mehdi calls for dignified medical care to separatist Shabir Shah
The Srinagar MP said that our country has legal and moral obligations, under both its Constitution and international treaties to ensure that prisoners are treated with humanity
Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Ruhullah Mehdi, has written to Union home minister Amit Shah for proper and dignified medical treatment to the undertrial separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah at a facility equipped with cancer treatment.
The National Conference leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar also sought the involvement of Shah’s family in the medical decisions for his treatment. “Shabir Ahmad Shah is now 70 years old. By every humane and legal standard he is entitled to medical treatment with dignity and fairness. His doctors have recommended three surgeries for serious medical conditions which include life-threatening prostate cancer. Despite the gravity of his condition, he remains incarcerated since 2017, without family support,” Mehdi wrote in the letter.
Shah, 74, has been incarcerated in Tihar Jail after he was arrested by the enforcement directorate on July 25, 2017, in a 2005 money laundering case. On October 4, 2019, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet in another case against Shah and four others, including Yasin Malik, Masarat Alam, Engineer Rashid and Asiya Andrabi, before a Delhi court. The offences included Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against government of India), 121A (conspiracy to wage war) and 124A (sedition) of the IPC.
“During visit to Safdarjung Hospital on May 1, 2025, his family has alleged that he was subjected to harassment and degrading treatment by escorting officers, and that access to his medical records has also been withheld from them,” Mehdi wrote.
The Srinagar MP said that our country has legal and moral obligations, under both its Constitution and international treaties to ensure that prisoners are treated with humanity. “Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a party, mandates that prisoners must be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. The Nelson Mandela Rules (Rules 24 and 26) mandate that prisoners should receive the same standard of health care available to the general population. In Shabir Shah’s case, one can quote multiple such obligations that appear to have been blatantly contravened,” the letter said.
He said that there are clear precedents in domestic law in support of fair medical treatment of undertrials. “Zahoor Watali and Gautam Navlakha were both granted house arrest on medical and humanitarian grounds by Indian courts. These decisions acknowledge that incarceration must not come at the cost of life and dignity, particularly when there is no proven risk of escape or subversion. With the same consideration can it not be said then, for Shah, whose legal status remains that of an undertrial, is a question of his basic human rights?,” Mehdi said.
“I urge you to ensure that Shabir Shah is provided dignified medical care in a facility equipped for cancer treatment. The measure of a nation is how it treats its weakest. Let us not fail that test,” Mehdi stated.
Various political leaders of Kashmir have called for a humanitarian response from the government so that Shah receives proper medical care owing to his serious medical condition.
Shah’s daughter, Sehar Shah on Monday had issued an appeal for compassion and access to proper medical care for her father.
