New criminal laws will lead to further erosion of civil liberties in IIOJK: DFP
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has expressed serious concern over the passing of three more criminal laws by the Indian parliament saying that the enforcement of these laws would lead to further erosion of civil liberties especially in disputed territory of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a statement issued in Srinagar today , DFP spokesman advocate Arshad Iqbal said that these new criminal laws grant unfettered powers to the Indian occupation forces and their agencies, which have been already enjoying blanket immunity under various draconian laws in the occupied territory.
While referring to the misuse of anti-terror laws in Kashmir by the Indian agencies, Iqbal said that there was an apprehension that induction of these laws would lead to further erosion of civil liberties in the territory where human rights situation had exacerbated due to lack of proper accountability mechanism.
He said that the most worrying aspect of these laws was that there were no checks and balances or safety provisions to prevent the misuse of these criminal laws by the agencies. “Granting sweeping powers to the agencies under these laws can open up floodgates to human rights abuses in Kashmir where draconian laws such as PSA, UAPA, AFSPA and other anti-terror laws are grossly being misused”, he said.
The DFP spokesman appealed to the international human rights bodies to take effective notice of the matter and raise the issue with India and at relevant international forums.
Terming Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle as a legitimate political struggle, he said, it was high time that the Indian government should accept the ground reality in Kashmir and realize the fact that genuine freedom movements with a massive public support cannot be subdued by the dint of force. Urging the Indian government to shun its policy of intransigence, he said that a meaningful and result oriented dialogue between all the stakeholders to the Kashmir dispute was the only way forward to resolve this lingering dispute once and for all.
