The sister of a man on a prolonged hunger strike alongside other prisoners affiliated with the proscribed group Palestine Action has voiced her terror that each conversation with her brother could be their final one. Shahmina Amal has accused ministers of waiting for the protesters to be hospitalised, or suffer "even worse" fates, before engaging with their demands.
Families in Anguish as Health Declines
Shahmina Amal's brother, 28-year-old Kamran Ahmed, was taken to hospital on 25 November. He is one of six individuals currently refusing food in what has become the largest such action in UK prisons in decades. The rolling hunger strike entered its second month on Tuesday, with mounting concern for the participants' safety after two were hospitalised last week.
"Every single time I speak to him, I'm like: this could be our last conversation," said Amal, a 33-year-old pharmacist. "Are we waiting for all of them to be in hospital, or even worse, before the government decides to respond?"
She described the immense personal toll, suffering panic attacks and being granted carers' leave from work due to her distress. The situation was exacerbated by a lack of updates from authorities about her brother's condition while he was hospitalised, where she said he was handcuffed to a prison guard throughout.
Medical Concerns and Political Demands
Although Ahmed has since been returned to Pentonville prison in London, where he began his hunger strike on 10 November, his health remains precarious. Amal reported his ketone levels are rising again and his sugar levels dropping. He told her doctors had diagnosed him with acidic blood and arrhythmia during his hospital stay.
The hunger strikers' core demands include:
- Immediate grant of bail while awaiting trial.
- An end to the ban on Palestine Action.
- The cessation of restrictions on their communications.
"He's gone into his fourth week of a hunger strike, and we've had no response from the home secretary and the Ministry of Justice," Amal stated, citing feelings of "frustration, anger and a deep-rooted sadness."
A Wider Protest with Historical Echoes
The group of hunger strikers includes individuals held in several prisons across England:
- Teuta Hoxha (Peterborough prison) - began 9 November, hospitalised last Thursday.
- Jon Cink (Bronzefield prison, Surrey) - began 6 November.
- Heba Muraisi (HMP New Hall) - began 5 November.
- Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib (both at Bronzefield) - began 2 November.
All are accused of participating in actions before Palestine Action was proscribed and will have been in prison for well over a year before facing trial. A legal challenge to the ban on the group concluded on Tuesday, with judges reserving their decision.
Ella Moulsdale, the designated "loved one" for 20-year-old Qesser Zuhrah, described her friend as being "in a lot of pain all over" but mentally strong and committed. Moulsdale drew a stark historical parallel, criticising the government's silence: "They let the Irish hunger strikers starve to death, 10 of them in 1981." This action is believed to be the biggest prison hunger strike in the UK since the 1981 IRA protest led by Bobby Sands.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Any prisoner assessed as needing hospital treatment is immediately taken to hospital." The families of those striking, however, continue to plead for a political, rather than purely medical, response to avert a deepening crisis.
