Srinagar: The condition of Muhammad Yasin Malik, the ailing incarcerated chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has deteriorated, his family and friends said on Thursday.
Malik who is part of joint resistance leadership spearheading the ongoing mass uprising in Kashmir, according to his Pakistan-based spouse Mushaal Hussain Malik, has been kept in solitary confinement and his health has deteriorated.
Malik is lodged in Joint Interrogation Centre of police at Humhama in Srinagar outskirts.
"He has a serious health problem. There is a metallic valve in his heart. Besides, his left leg has developed an infection because of the unhygienic conditions in the jail," Mushaal told the media. "The government has been denying him the proper treatment, which is only aggravating his situation."
Malik's sister Abida, who has frequently visited her brother in jail, wants him immediately shifted to the hospital. "He is alone in the room and he is ailing. His heart is not OK and the stones in his kidneys have become active again," she told Kashmir Observer.
"It is my brother's steadfastness that keeps him going."
The doctors who have attended to Malik over the years also think there is a genuine cause for worry. "Malik sahib has a longstanding heart and kidney condition. One of his valves was not working. He has had a surgery for it 16 years ago. He is on blood thinners to keep the blood thin so that the valve doesn't get blocked. His kidneys have also been operated upon several times because of stones," said a doctor familiar with the leader's health condition.
"It is a serious health condition, but his condition is not very serious this time. He, however, needs urgent medical attention and a hygienic environment. Prison is, after all, prison".
Malik's JKLF has also issued a statement to draw attention to his 'failing health' in jail.
"Yasin Sahib's both kidneys have been diagnosed with multiple stones. As he has many times been operated upon for the same problem, the doctors are worried about the reoccurrence of these stones [sic]," the statement read.
The government has so far moved him twice to local government hospitals, and also to some private nursing homes. But according to Abida, this hasn't improved his health. "He is alone in his room with books. It is furnished with cardboard. He gets dal and potatoes for his meals," she said. "But we are not complaining. My brother is in jail as he is fighting for a just cause. We are worried about his health, not about his incarceration."
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