ISLAMABAD, 10 May 2021, (TON): Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN has written a letter to UN chief following death of jailed Kashmiri pro-independence leader Ashraf Sehrai.

Pakistan conveyed its “deep” concern to the UN over the death of jailed pro-freedom Kashmiri leader Ashraf Sehrai and called for the release of all political prisoners in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Munir Akram wrote on Saturday in a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres, urging him to ask New Delhi to immediately release all prisoners illegally detained in the disputed Himalayan valley.

Ashraf Sehrai, who a political prisoner died at a hospital earlier this week. He was the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, one of the constituent parties of the Hurriyat Conference. He was under house arrest when he was detained under the Public Safety Act, which has been described as a “lawless law” by global rights group Amnesty International.

With hundreds of prisoners having tested positive for COVID-19 across India, activists and family members of incarcerated individuals have repeatedly appealed to the Indian government to release ailing prisoners from overcrowded jails.