‘Baba is in jail but sees me everyday’; Kashmiri daughters plead with Modi

June 11, 2021

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Baba is in jail but sees me everyday' Kashmiri daughters plead with Modi

I see Baba everyday in my dreams, as if he is calling me and saying that I have been released from jail. Then my mother wakes up and I regain consciousness after some time.”

Sahar Shabbir Shah, the younger daughter of prominent Kashmiri separatist leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah, says she remains depressed and stressed after her father’s arrest.

Four years ago, the investigative agency NIA arrested dozens of separatist leaders and activists as well as Shabir Shah, and imprisoned him in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for funding extremists.

These include former MLA Engineer Rashid and youth leader of Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra.

Sahar Shabir Shah became a victim of mental stress during this time. She could not understand for a long time why her father was in jail.

She says, “I used to see Baba again and again in the window or cupboard mirror. Once I looked inside the cupboard through the mirror and said to take me out, I broke the mirror. Both my hands were injured. Now, my mother, covers all the mirrors of the house with a cloth.

Sahar’s education has also been affected. While undergoing treatment from a psychiatrist, he gave his class XII examination.

“I used to take a lot of stress-relieving medicines, I was missing Baba too, so I could not get good marks. But now I have campaigned on social media for his release.”