Shabir Shah in stable condition, rumours on social media unfounded: Tihar Jail authorities
Tihar Jail authorities on Friday dismissed social media rumours about the deteriorating health of incarcerated Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, terming them unfounded and misleading.
A senior prison official clarified that Shah, who is currently lodged in a Delhi prison, has been receiving regular medical attention and his health is stable.
Shah was referred to Safdarjung Hospital on June 26 for outpatient consultation following complaints related to lower urinary tract symptoms.
“He was admitted for further evaluation, and all his test reports have returned normal. Appropriate medical treatment is being provided at Safdarjung Hospital," the statement said.
The clarification came in response to reports circulating on social media platforms suggesting that Shah’s health had taken a critical turn, prompting concerns among his supporters in the valley. The official urged the public not to fall prey to speculation and to rely only on verified updates from credible sources.
Shah, a separatist leader, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2019 in a terror funding case and since then is incarcerated at Delhi’s high-security Tihar prison.
Notably, the separatist leader’s daughter Sehar Shabir Shah had recently made an appeal through social media where she had asked for better treatment of her jailed father on humanitarian grounds.
“This is not political. This is not anti-national. This is not against any country, institution, or government. This is only about my father’s life. His health. His right to be treated with dignity," Sehar posted on X along with a video of her fervent appeal.
She stated that her father has spent 38 years in prison without any conviction and justice.
“Today, he is gravely ill. He has been advised multiple surgeries. Yet there is no proper care, no access to medical records, and not even a single phone call in two years — which is a right every prisoner is entitled to. We, his family, are kept away. I have watched him suffer in silence, behind soundproof walls, iron grills, and broken microphones. We cannot even touch him," she wrote.
Several valley leaders responded to her appeal with Srinagar MP and National Conference Leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi writing a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and seeking immediate medical care for Shah.
Mehdi urged Shah to ensure that “Shabir Shah is provided dignified medical care in a facility equipped for cancer treatment". He said this process must involve his family in all medical decisions, as permitted by law. “The measure of a nation is how it treats its weakest. Let us not fail that test," he said.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also urged the Centre to take a humanitarian view by ensuring Shabir Shah receives proper medical care.
India