Human Rights

No more authoritarian laws needed, says Tarigami on Public Property Ordinance

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Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra promulgated an ordinance, which makes people calling for strikes or demonstrations, leading to damage of public property, liable for fines and imprisonment up to five years.

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) Ordinance, 2017 amended the existing law relating to damage to public property and came into effect yesterday.

According to CPI(M) leader and MLA Kulgam, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, “The Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 can have a grave implication that it will trample the legitimate democratic rights of people because our past experience tells us that such laws have always been misused.”

He said that there were enough laws in place to deal with law and order situations and asked why were new laws needed?

“If people protest for issues regarding education, health care, electricity food, water and roads etc, they are not being allowed. If unemployed youth demand employment and employees, daily wagers, casual labors, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and others protest for their rights, force is being used against them. In all these protests, police comes forward to stop them instead of the concerned civil officials. If such laws are passed, it has the potential of creating erosion of the genuine rights of people. All this could have far-reaching implications,” Tarigami said in a statement.

He added that many illustrations from the past reveal that such laws have often been widely misused.

“These are authoritarian laws which trample civil and democratic rights of the people. The urgency is softening of the older harsh laws to give people some relief. But instead, new authoritarian laws are being passed which will only lead to curbing the legitimate democratic rights of the people,” he added.

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