Srinagar
On the morning of February 5, a grieving father led a protest march through a village in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, asking for his teenage son’s body.
The police claimed 16-year-old Ather Mushtaq was among three militants killed in a gunfight in Srinagar on December 30. But his father, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, rejected the claim.
“My son was not a militant,” he said. “I just want his dead body, nothing else.”
Haleema Maqbool’s son has been arrested in a case involving charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Lawyers say the case against Wani represents a larger trend in Kashmir – of the anti-terror law being invoked on what they say are the flimsiest of grounds.
“The UAPA is being used for anything and everything in Kashmir,” said a Srinagar-based lawyer, who is handling many cases under the anti-terror law. He requested anonymity for the sake of his clients’ protection.
“Earlier, a stone-pelting incident would invite the charges of rioting, attempt to murder or other provisions, but now even those cases are being registered under UAPA,” he said.
Last week, Scroll.in reported the case of an assistant professor who was arrested in the first week of March in cases involving UAPA charges. The police claimed he had been evading arrest since 2018.
But official documents showed he had regularly attended work, including handling the responsibility of running a coronavirus quarantine centre in the government college where he was posted.
His family said the cases under UAPA were an outcome of his activism – he had exposed corruption by officials and raised concerns over land encroachment by the Indian Army.
The National Crime Records Bureau, India, data shows a rising graph of UAPA cases in Jammu and Kashmir: from less than 60 cases annually until 2015, to 255 cases in 2019, the latest year for which data is available.
“Whether it’s an OGW [overground worker of a militant group], stone-pelter, separatist (Hurriyat leader, activist), journalist or someone else, UAPA is being slapped randomly,” the lawyer said.
On March 31, Scroll.in sent a detailed questionnaire to Jammu and Kashmir police headquarters and Inspector General of Police of Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, asking them about the reasons behind the rise in number of UAPA cases in the territory.
A reminder was sent to both the offices on April 5. However, the questions have gone unanswered.
Lawyers say part of the reason why the police are frequently using the law is that it enables them to detain the accused for longer periods of time without a trial.
Under UAPA, investigative agencies get 180 days to probe a case, compared to 60-90 days under ordinary criminal law. This means an accused is eligible to apply for bail only after six months.
Lawyers say this is part of police efforts to stifle peaceful dissent.
Scroll.in spent a month tracking down recently filed UAPA cases to examine these trends more closely.
But the families of many Kashmiris booked and arrested under the law declined our request for interviews, expressing fear of additional trouble for their loved ones.
Even lawyers requested anonymity, fearing the attention on their clients might lead to more cases against them.
Mohammadd Maqbool Panjra and his wife Haleema Maqbool show a letter submitted in support of their son.
Wani was among the exceptions who spoke to us. In the two months since the case was registered against him and his relatives, the police have neither summoned nor arrested them.
He believes the registration of the case was aimed at derailing further protests – an aim that has been achieved since the family has avoided hitting the streets again.
“We are now exploring options to go to the court and demand my son’s mortal remains through it,” he said.
