Battling Mental Health Issues Due To Father’s Imprisonment, Shabir Shah’s Daughter Seeks His House Detention

Sehar Shabir, daughter of banned Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) leader, Shabir Shah, who is lodged in Tihar jail and has been charged with receiving money from Pakistan to fan the separatist activities here, has faced mental health issues after his nine-year-long detention. She is unable to attend to her MBA studies and doesn’t know the condition of her father, who is suspected to have been suffering from cancer.

“I was in Delhi till March. After I moved to Srinagar, I am not able to speak to my father either on the phone or through a video conference. I don’t know his health condition. I am distraught by his condition,” said Sehar, while urging authorities to move her father to the house detention either in Delhi or Srinagar so that they can attend to his health problems.

According to the family members, during the winter months, they were in Delhi and would meet the separatist leader twice a week. It was after they moved to Srinagar that the separatist leader’s health condition deteriorated.

“We learnt it from family members of other people jailed in Tihar that Shah Saheb's condition has deteriorated, and he was taken to Safdarjung hospital and is being investigated for malignancy. We sent a relative to Tihar jail, who told us that a surgery which was to be performed in July has been preponed and is being conducted on June 26. We have not been provided access to the medical records, although we also made a plea before the court,” said a family member.

Sehar said that shifting her father from prison to house detention, where they are willing to pay the rent, would help them ensure the post-surgery care. “ How can a patient be taken care of in Tihar jail ?” she asked.

Sehar also put out an appeal through a video statement, and said, “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. Is your conscience alive?”

In the video statement, Sehar said that her father has spent 38 years in prison and is gravely ill, due to which he has been advised to undergo 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 said.

“This is a daughter’s plea for compassion, for justice, and for basic humanity,” she said.

After the video went viral, several political leaders, including former Chief Minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, came in her support. Mehbooba urged Home Minister Amit Shah, to urgently consider the heartfelt appeal of Saher whose father “is battling a life-threatening illness.” “In this critical moment we urge GOI (Government of India) to take a humanitarian view by ensuring he receives proper medical care. This may be the family’s last chance to ease his suffering.

Please let compassion guide the response,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.

Hurriyat Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, termed Sehar’s plea as a “ heartbreaking and courageous appeal from a daughter.” “This is not politics — this is a plea for dignity, humanity, and the most basic rights,” he said.

Former Minister and People’s Conference President, Sajad Lone, said that getting treatment is a “very basic right.” “I humbly stand in solidarity with his family in demanding that he be allowed access to medical facilities. And the very basic right of being surrounded by his family when he fights for his health,” he said.