YASIN MALIK ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL AFTER HUNGER STRIKE

Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, who was on a hunger strike in Tihar Jail here, has been admitted to the RML hospital following a fluctuation in his blood pressure, sources said on Wednesday.

Malik has submitted a letter to the doctors at the medical facility, saying he did not want to be treated, they said.

“The jail doctors noted his BP fluctuating and so referred him to the hospital. He is admitted to the RML hospital. We are getting regular updates from hospital,” said a prison official.

Malik (56), the head of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), began his indefinite hunger strike on Friday morning after the Centre did not respond to his plea that he be allowed to physically appear in a Jammu court hearing the Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case, in which he is an accused.

The separatist leader, who was kept in solitary confinement in a high-risk cell in Tihar’s prison number 7, was shifted to the prison’s Medical Investigation (MI) room where he was being given IV fluids.

The JKLF chief is serving a life sentence in a terror-funding case. The 56-year-old went on a hunger strike on Friday morning after the union government did not agree to his request that he be allowed to physically appear in a terror case in Jammu in which he is an accused. He was shifted to Tihar jail’s medical investigation room on Sunday where doctors were constantly monitoring his health.

Appearing before a special court in Jammu, Malik said he has written to the government for a physical appearance before the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court, in the case related to the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed.