Jamia Law Graduate Files Petition in SC, Demands Info About Parents Residing in Kashmir

New Delhi: A law graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, who is a resident of Anantnag, has moved the Supreme Court by filing a writ for habeas corpus information and access to his parents. He had not been able to get any information of his parents and brother since the intervening night of August 4-5 due to the unprecedented lockdown in Kashmir Valley.

He fears that his parents have been detained in the Valley as he is unable to reach them by any means or manner. The fear of the petitioner can be ascertained by a Reuters report where they have quoted an All India Radio report that more than 500 people have already been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5.

“…it seems that the whole of Kashmir has been detained…there is a complete shutdown of Internet and phone services in Jammu and Kashmir from the eve of the promulgation of the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) order, 2019 and consequent passage of the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019,” the petition submitted by Mohammad Aleem Syed reads, which was filed by Advocate Anas Tanwir and Advocate Mrigank Prabhakar.

Referring to new reports and updates on social media platforms, he said that the present clampdown is the “most draconian” in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. He added that the “information blackout” and restriction on movement in Jammu and Kashmir is in “violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India”.

Describing the restrictions in the Valley as “undeclared curfew”, the petitioner has told the apex court that he is unable to contact his parents since the past five days and that in absence of any concrete information, he is only left with rumours of violence and killings in the Valley.

He said he has tried to contacts his parents through mobile phone and by dialling emergency numbers purportedly provided by the state administration, but to no avail. He said that he also tried to contact Anantnag’s deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner and district technical director to get some information about his parents, but after an initial reply from the district informatics officer, the officer also went incommunicado.

He has stated in the petition that “no ground exists for keeping his parents and entire Kashmir Valley under detention”.

Notably, even the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression David Kaye has recently described the complete shutdown in the Valley as “unprecedented”.

“…even though there has been communication blackout in Kashmir in the past”, he said he cannot recall when a “blackout of this level where even landline and TV have been rendered useless ever happened in the Valley”.

The petitioner has said that this is the 53rd time this year – as per reports – that the Internet has been shut down in the Valley.

The petitioner said that he has approached the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir is physically “inaccessible” for him.

The shutdown in the Valley – which has now been reduced to a union territory with a Legislative Assembly following the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A – began with a security advisory by the Jammu and Kashmir government on August 2. The advisory directed the pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra to immediately curtail their stay in the then state and return as soon as possible given the inputs of terrorist threats. On the same day, the Centre dispatched 28,000 troops from the paramilitary forces to be deployed there in addition to the 10,000 troops, which are already stationed in the Valley.

The matter has been filed and will be mentioned for hearing on August 13.

As the Valley remains under lockdown for the sixth consecutive days, the administration in Srinagar on August 9 made some arrangements for residents to make calls to their near and dear ones. Three mobile phones belonging to officials were turned into helplines at Tankipora. Residents came there in large number, with many of them waiting for hours for their turn.

The three phone numbers – according to a report published in The Hindu – were shared on local cable channels. Those who swarmed the Tankipora office to contact their relatives and friends were issued paper slips as tokens.