Srinagar, May 08, (KMW): High Court Bar Association Saturday called for shutdown on May 10 against the ‘census manipulations’, SC clause in job bill and ‘failure of judiciary’ in mitigating the sufferings of Kashmiri detainees.
The bandh call, given for the day the government durbar opens in the summer capital, has been supported by both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and other groups.
Speaking at a press conference here, president of the HCBA, Mian Abdul Qayoom, denounced the functioning of the state’s courts as a “drama” saying that people were being harassed the most where they should have got protection.
“A farce being enacted here, not justice for the countless victims who have been put behind bars for demanding their rights,” Qayoom said.
“The government does not tire of telling the assembly that only 100 persons are detained under the PSA, while the fact is that the Act was invoked against 728 persons since 2009 till January 2010, and 412 persons are still in jail under the Act,” he said.
“Moreover, 147 persons have been jailed under the PSA since January alone,” he said.
“The PSA had been formulated against forest smugglers, but now it is being used as tool of political vendetta,” he said. “Over 50,000 people have been arrested under this act in the past 20 years.”
“The courts are not unaware of the oppression being wreaked on the people in Kashmir, but the judges are unmoved. The High Court is considered to be a standard-bearer of freedom, but even this highest institution of justice is a mute spectator,” he said.
Citing the example of the chief judicial magistrate in Bandipur, wom he likened to Nadir Shah, Qayoom said that the magistrate had framed laws of his own to persecute those involved with the Kashmir movement.
The HCBA president targeted district magistrates for “misusing thier position” and invoking the PSA on the flimsiest of pretexts.
“The faith of the people in the judiciary has been eroded due to the conditional ties in the orders passed by the judges in PSA cases and related issues,” he said.
“Stays on PSA charges are so vaguely and ambiguously worded that the police has no problem in re-arresting detainees supposed to have been released by the courts,” he said.
Referring to the convictions in the Lajpat Nagar blast case, Qayoom said that the judge himself had admitted to being immense pressure.
“How come some of the accused were released after 14 long years and some convicted and sentenced when the evidence in all the cases was similar?” he said.
“A non Kashmiri politician agitated the case of the Maqbool Shah - who spent 14 years in jail – but no leader in the state bothered to utter a single word on the injustice,” he said.
“The judiciary here has been paralyzed, and its sanctity is being violated,” he said.
The bandh call, given for the day the government durbar opens in the summer capital, has been supported by both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and other groups.
Speaking at a press conference here, president of the HCBA, Mian Abdul Qayoom, denounced the functioning of the state’s courts as a “drama” saying that people were being harassed the most where they should have got protection.
“A farce being enacted here, not justice for the countless victims who have been put behind bars for demanding their rights,” Qayoom said.
“The government does not tire of telling the assembly that only 100 persons are detained under the PSA, while the fact is that the Act was invoked against 728 persons since 2009 till January 2010, and 412 persons are still in jail under the Act,” he said.
“Moreover, 147 persons have been jailed under the PSA since January alone,” he said.
“The PSA had been formulated against forest smugglers, but now it is being used as tool of political vendetta,” he said. “Over 50,000 people have been arrested under this act in the past 20 years.”
“The courts are not unaware of the oppression being wreaked on the people in Kashmir, but the judges are unmoved. The High Court is considered to be a standard-bearer of freedom, but even this highest institution of justice is a mute spectator,” he said.
Citing the example of the chief judicial magistrate in Bandipur, wom he likened to Nadir Shah, Qayoom said that the magistrate had framed laws of his own to persecute those involved with the Kashmir movement.
The HCBA president targeted district magistrates for “misusing thier position” and invoking the PSA on the flimsiest of pretexts.
“The faith of the people in the judiciary has been eroded due to the conditional ties in the orders passed by the judges in PSA cases and related issues,” he said.
“Stays on PSA charges are so vaguely and ambiguously worded that the police has no problem in re-arresting detainees supposed to have been released by the courts,” he said.
Referring to the convictions in the Lajpat Nagar blast case, Qayoom said that the judge himself had admitted to being immense pressure.
“How come some of the accused were released after 14 long years and some convicted and sentenced when the evidence in all the cases was similar?” he said.
“A non Kashmiri politician agitated the case of the Maqbool Shah - who spent 14 years in jail – but no leader in the state bothered to utter a single word on the injustice,” he said.
“The judiciary here has been paralyzed, and its sanctity is being violated,” he said.
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