Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) leader, M Y Tarigami, has said that the rampant and arbitrary arrests of people, especially youth since last August are atrocious and undemocratic and violate civil liberties of the people.
M Y Tarigami in a statement issued in Srinagar said the draconian law, Public Safety Act, is being misused in IIOJK and in some cases common people are being kept in police stations for days together without any FIRs. He said arrests under another draconian law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), have become a norm and the law also is being misused.
“Majority of the habeas corpus petitions filed with the Jammu and Kashmir High Court since the scrapping of Article 370 in August last year have remained pending,” he said.
Tarigami further said that arrests without any solid legal grounds do not augur well for the territory. He said that it had been done before as well in IIOJK, but it had never yielded anything. “On the other hand, it just exacerbates the anger and gives rise to further uncertainty. We have always maintained that dissent should always have a place in a democratic society. Curbing the dissent and those holding a contradictory viewpoint is not democratic at all,” he added.
“Recently Justice D Y Chandrachud, one of the judges of the Supreme Court bench, which heard the bail plea of television anchor Arnab Goswami laid emphasis on protecting personal liberty of individuals.—KMS
