Brazen misuse of Public Safety Act in Kashmir

Since the last summer, police have arrested over 4294 stone throwers across different places to ensure peace in the Valley

On February 25, 2011, Faizan Rafiq Hakeem, 14, son of Mohammad Rafiq Hakeem of Reshi Bazaar, Islamabad,in South Kashmir, was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA). He was later shifted to Kotbalwal Jail, Jammu.

Under the PSA, police can arrest any suspect and keep him/her jailed for two years without any trial. This Act is widely abused in Kashmir as a tool to lessen the number of suspects and even minors under the illegal custody of the law enforcement agencies. It benefits the state administration to control brewing situation in the Valley, which, otherwise, can flame anytime.

This chilling winter has been severely bad for many youths who were detained for being pro-freedom; either on the ground for pelting stones on security officials or gathering for a cause on social networking websites. Education, which was badly hit last summer, means nothing for these youths when they are shifted to dreaded jails.

Faizan, whose family claims is a physically unwell after he met an accident, had recently appeared in secondary examination. He was arrested on February 22, 2011 by police on charges of pelting stones at the law enforcemnent agencies personnel. Next day, family was told that he has been booked under the PSA and shifted to Jammu.

“Initially, he was detained at Saddar Police Station in Islamabad. We manages his bail but the police booked him in another case at Sherbagh Police Station. Later, he was shifted to Central Jail, Srinagar,” said detained boy’s father Mohammad Rafiq Hakeem.

Since the last summer, police have arrested over 4294 stone throwers across different places to ensure peace in the Valley.

If local newspapers reports are to believe, police have booked 195 stone throwers under the PSA. As many as 53 youths were booked under the PSA in Srinagar district followed by 24 in Baramulla, 23 in Budgam, 19 in Anantnag, 15 each in Shopian and Pulwama, 9 in Sopore, 6 in Kulgam, 8 in Awantipora, one in Ganderbal, 4 in Handwara, 5 in Bandipora and 13 in Kupwara.

While 3680 of them were arrested till December 31, 2010, 614 others have been apprehended during 50 days of current year. As many as 3830 stone throwers have been booked under substantive laws while 464 others were detained as a preventive measure.

Since last summer, police have started monitoring internet users. With the arrest of youths on running pro-freedom pages on the Facebook, e-protests remained off from the internet. Even the female users were asked to submit their password and other details.

In yet another police action on the internet, Chairman of Islamic Students League (ISL) Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi was detained allegedly for his “pro-active” usage of social networking websites, especially Facebook. Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, S. A. Bukhari, told a local newspaper that there are many offences pending against Bakshi. “If he has posted stuff on Facebook against the establishment, then it is an offence. And thus, he is to be booked for the crime.”

Bakshi has served as General Secretary of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and later formed ISL. He never married to devote his entire life to “Kashmir Cause.”

While state police goes on with arrest and booking of youths under the PSA, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted that “no minors were being detained under the PSA in the state”.

Continuous monitoring of youths round the clock on every platform is to prevent the replica of last summer mass agitation, which can be uncontrollable this year keeping the Middle East crisis in view. Though, valley moves in a peaceful silence but it never asks before it erupts.