By
Dr. Paramjit
Singh Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal
The
whole of Kashmir valley has been likened to an open prison where people live in
conditions akin to being in a state of perpetual Internal Emergency. The civil
liberties and democratic rights of freedom loving people have been trampled upon
by police, paramilitary and the armed forces. Draconian laws like Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, 1958 [AFPSA] continue to exist. There is an army of occupation
estimated to be numbering around 700,000 armed and uniformed personnel. The
print, audio-visual and the social media face a situation of censorship every
time the people of Kashmir rebel against inhuman and cruel living conditions;
the right to rebel is effectively crushed. Even getting a private member’s
resolution to be raised in the Assembly urging for return of mortal remains of
Afzal Guru is effectively thwarted. The functioning of courts in conflict zones
does not inspire much confidence. Even peaceful and democratic protests, say
for boycott of elections, all over the valley are quelled through the use of
indefinite curfew, police firing, preventive detention, encounters and torture.
Since 1947 assurances given to people of Kashmir have been consistently violated;
for instance plebiscite never took place. Article 370 has been effectively
diluted, even as there is a constant refrain from the right wingers urging Article
370 to be scrapped altogether. As a last resort when a movement for ‘Azaadi’ is
launched brute force is used to crush it. No options are then left for the
people of Kashmir by the Indian State.
One
period the people of India faced a repressive situation all over the country was
during the imposition of Internal Emergency by the then Prime of India, Mrs.
Indira Gandhi in 1975. But that period did not last beyond twenty-one months;
during which time over a hundred thousand people were imprisoned including politicians,
trade unionists, academicians, intellectuals, journalists, students, ultra-left
activists and many others. The arrests were made under draconian laws – MISA
(Maintenance of Internal Security Act) and DIR (Defence of India Rules). Freedom
of speech was curtailed. There was press-censorship. The rulers amended and
subverted the Constitution of India umpteen times for their vested interests. The
right to life itself was suspended. (It is only now that Supreme Court judges
of those times have started apologizing for the havoc their judgements brought
on the citizens of India.) It was because of the tremendous resistance – both
underground and over ground as well as nationally and globally that the
Internal Emergency was revoked and political prisoners were released. It is
true that even the new dispensation that emerged after overthrowing Mrs. Gandhi’s
government was initially reluctant to release prisoners who are referred to as
Naxalites by the establishment, but later ordered their release.
It
will be in order to recapture the developments which led to the imposition of
Emergency. During 1973 the Nav Nirman movement emerged in Gujarat led by
students who were agitating against corruption and inflation. (Narendra Modi,
the present Prime Minister is said to have been an active participant in the
movement). The movement was supported by Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Congress (O), Communist
Party of India (Marxist), SP and others. While it succeeded in getting Gujarat
assembly dissolved – 95 people died during this agitation and 933 persons were
injured due to the agitation becoming more violent which led to police firing.
There was loss to public and private property. Nobody including the Sangh
Parivar shed a tear for demise of the rule of law and constitutional means. A
duly elected state government got overthrown using techniques like gheraos and the like; it was not through
elections!
Jayaprakash
Narayan (J.P.) inspired and encouraged a similar movement in Bihar for the
dissolution of the assembly; there, too, students were in the lead. The number
of fatalities was 70 and the number injured was 500. The year 1974 also saw the
all India strike by railway men under the leadership of socialist leader, George
Fernandes. The strike lasted for twenty days. It was brutally suppressed through
use of strong arm tactics. There was flagrant violation of civil and democratic
rights. Thousands of railway men were sent to jails and lost their jobs. This
has been likened to a dress rehearsal for Mrs. Gandhi’s Emergency regime. In
early January, 1975 L.N. Mishra, the Union Railway Minister was assassinated in
Samastipur, Bihar. This was followed by an attempt on the life of the Chief
Justice of India.
Indira
Gandhi’s response was through the imposition of Internal Emergency triggered by
her election being set aside by the Allahabad High Court. Mass arrest of
political leaders of all hues followed including socialists, communists, Jan
Sanghis, members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), break away factions of
the Congress; members of Akali Dal, Muslim League and others. L.K. Advani, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, Arun Jaitley too faced imprisonment. George Fernandes led an
underground movement and garnered support from several sources to use dynamite
to blast government buildings and to “transport the explosives from Baroda to
Varanasi.” Upon arrest in 1976 he was tried under the Baroda Dynamite Case;
this case was withdrawn when Janata Party came to power. Later in Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s regime Fernandes rose to be the Union Defence Minister. The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), the RSS and other right wing bodies were comfortable with
the idea of George Fernandes as the Defence Minister; that the unity and
integrity of India would not be threatened by someone who was at one time – during
the underground movement in mid-seventies – self-confessedly dynamiting
government buildings. Even as late as 2005 before his memory faded he had
publicly acknowledged the support he had received from the DMK chief
Karunanidhi in the Baroda Dynamite attacks during Emergency with moral and
material support.
Fernandes
and his associates had every right to rebel against Mrs. Gandhi’s dictatorship.
It is appropriate that he was treated as a political prisoner and released by
the Janata party government. Even as serious criminal charges were leveled
against Fernandes, the attempt of Mrs. Gandhi’s government then was to ensure
that civil society would be less inclined to canvas for his release. This is a
standard ploy used by all regimes from the British era down to Modi’s regime.
Draconian laws are framed and political activists during their legitimate
political activity are framed under such black laws. As always the attempt is
to discredit the political activists and ensure that a wave of protests for the
activists to be treated as political prisoners is effectively prevented.
But
shouldn’t such courtesy i.e. being released as political prisoners from jails,
withdrawal of criminal cases be extended to those who participated in and
spearheaded the May-June 2010 Quit Kashmir movement launched against the Indian
Army? Those who participated in that
movement were sick and tired of the atrocities committed by the army personnel.
The trigger point was the staged encounter at Sona Pindi of three young Kashmiri
Muslims who were taken from their Nadihal Village in Baramulla District and how
eventually it was found to be fake. The Kashmiris had every right to rebel
which they did through hurling pebbles – sorry stones – when confronted by the
might of the police and paramilitary forces all over the valley. It resulted in
the death of over one hundred and ten civilians and 537 civilians were injured
during the stone pelting incidents including many teenagers and a 11 year old
boy between May to September 2010. A large number of CRPF men and police
personnel were said to have been injured. Just as the leader of the Quit
Kashmir movement – Masarat Alam was released on 7 March, 2015, political
parties of all hues protested against the release in and outside the Indian
Parliament. The BJP leaders at the Central Government raised the bogey of not
being consulted prior to his release insinuating thereby that they would have
objected. The central BJP leadership and members of Sangh Parivar and all
political parties should remember how they themselves were released from jails as
political prisoners just a few decades back. Kuldip Nayar – veteran journalist, who was himself jailed
under MISA during the Emergency – should
have been supporting Masarat Alam’s release. The Quit Kashmir movement
leaders were only urging for the army to be withdrawn from Kashmir. Contrast it
with the statement of Jayaprakash Narayan just a day before the Emergency was
imposed wherein he had urged the police and the army to disobey illegal orders
challenging Indira Gandhi to bring charges against him if she thought he was
preaching treason! Notwithstanding treason, J.P. was released.
It
is learnt that a number of political prisoners of the Quit Kashmir Movement as
also several hundred arrested during the earlier phases of struggle are
languishing in jails in Kashmir and elsewhere. If people charged under the
Baroda Dynamite Case can have cases withdrawn and released from jails, there is
no reason why political activists in Kashmir have to face continued incarceration
in jails. There is a very real possibility that false criminal cases under
draconian laws may have been filed even against those involved in the Quit
Kashmir movement. In the interest of justice and equity each one of those involved
in that movement should be released forthwith.
After
the release of Masarat Alam the Jammu and Kashmir government has reportedly
decided against release of anymore political prisoners. Historically, political
prisoners put behind bars are released when the regime changes. This is the
first time that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP combine is in power in Jammu
& Kashmir. It would be politically wise to release all political prisoners
put behind bars by the earlier political dispensation.
[Paramjit
Singh Sahni, Orthopaedic Surgeon & Shobha Aggarwal, advocate are members of
Public Interest Litigation Watch Group. Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com]
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