October 2, 2019
Indian government admits arresting 144 minors in volatile Kashmir
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Indian government admitted Tuesday (Oct. 1) in the Supreme Court that 144 minors, including children as young as 9 and 11 years old, have been detained in the Indian-administered Kashmir since August 5, when the disputed territory was annexed.
However, the government claimed that the arrest of minors was not illegal.
On September 20, the Supreme Court had directed the Juvenile Justice Committee to file a report on the alleged detention of children.
It was responding to a petition filed by child rights activists Enakshi Ganguly and Shanta Sinha, seeking a probe on the detention of minors since August 5.
The petition had cited a number of media reports, including those by Scroll.in, The Washington Post, Caravan, Quint and TRT World.
The director general of police “categorically denied the specific allegations made in the writ petition”, the juvenile justice committee noted. The committee submitted its report to a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on October 1.
With normal life remained affected in the Indian administered Kashmir for the 59th consecutive day on Wednesday, the Huffington Post India reported that thousands of Kashmiris — politicians, separatists, lawyers, young men, and minors — have been arrested since August 5.
Quoting media reports, the Post said the number of arrests and detentions vary from 4,000 to 13,000.
“The Modi government has refused to say how many people have been jailed, where they have been lodged, and the reasons for their detention. Yet many of these detentions, interviews with Srinagar-based lawyers establish, are in violation of Jammu and Kashmir’s famously draconian laws of arrest and detention,” the paper said.
Tellingly, the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) allows the authorities to detain a person before a crime is committed and hold them without trial for up to one year in cases of public order and two years in cases of national security. However, it does require officials to provide reasons for their detaining someone, furnish the detenu and his family members with the grounds for detentions, and give the detenu an opportunity to challenge his detention.
Betwa Sharma of the Huffington Post provided graphic account of the detention of Kashmiris without any recourse to law.
Lawyers in Kashmir say Indian authorities have been detaining people under grounds that are vague to the point of absurdity.
Manzoor Ahmed, a senior lawyer and an executive member of the J&K Bar Association, said that at least 300 habeas corpus petitions have been filed since 5 August as desperate family members try to track down their imprisoned relatives.
The Indian Express has reported that the two benches of J&K High Court, Srinagar and Jammu, which should have 17 judges, is operating with only nine at present and only two judges in the Srinagar bench are hearing these habeas corpus petitions.
But government lawyers are simply refusing to respond to court notices. “Since 5 August, no reply has been filed in any habeas corpus petition. The situation is more than hellish,” said Ahmed, the lawyer. “The judges are telling government lawyers to respond to habeas corpus petitions but the might of the state prevails.”
The situation is more than hellish, according to Betwa Sharma:
If Ronga, a former president of the J&K Bar Association, is lodged in a district jail in Ambedkar Nagar, the current president of the Bar, Miya Abdul Qayoom, has been detained under the PSA and is currently incarcerated in the Agra central jail.
Mohammed Ashraf Butt, the J&K Bar Association’s general secretary, has been booked under Sections 107 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which allow for preventive detention. He is lodged in the central jail in Srinagar.
Abdul Salam Rather, president of the Baramulla Association, has also been booked under the PSA, senior lawyers of the J&K Bar Association told HuffPost India.
Ahmed, who has filed a habeas corpus petition for Qayoom, said, “It’s been more than three weeks but the government has not responded. This is how they are treating the J&K Bar president. He is someone who is 24x7 in front of judges. They know that he is not a terrorist. Can you imagine the plight of an ordinary citizen?”
Habeas corpus petitions
Aijaz Bedar, the vice president of the J&K Bar Association, said that the 300 habeas corpus petitions filed since 5 August was the highest ever in this time frame. By way of comparison, 260 Habeas Corpus petitions were filed from January to July in the J&K High Court, he said.
But even these 300 are very likely the tip of the iceberg.
The communication blackout coupled with the lack of public transport — buses and sumos operated by private transporters — has made it harder for people to travel from the hinterlands to the city for legal assistance.
Nazir Ahmad Ronga’s son, and other Kashmiris, who had attempted to meet their relatives in jails in UP and Haryana in the weeks following 5 August, told HuffPost India that they were denied permission by jail authorities.
Indian citizens, lawyers say, can meet their jailed relatives by submitting an application to the jail authorities along with government-issued proof of identification.
Tellingly, Farooq Abdullah, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was booked under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC, but after MDMK General Secretary Vaiko filed a habeas corpus petition to produce the Kashmiri politician before the Supreme Court on 11 September, Abdullah was booked under the PSA under which a person can be detained for up to two years without trial.
Not surprisingly, the veteran Congress leader Karan Singh — son of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir who signed the Instrument of Accession in 1947 — has said he prefers to stay mum on the present state of J&K. “I will not say anything on Jammu and Kashmir. At this juncture, it is better to maintain silence,” said Singh, when asked about the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the annexation of the disputed territory by India on August 5.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
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