Though ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is crying much against the opposition National Conference for invoking draconian legislations like Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), but this week the incumbent state government headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti gladly accepted the announcement of an ordinance that puts curbs on the organizers of anti-government protests. Given the fact that ordinace “the Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017” passed by the government just two days before the shifting of move offices from Srinagar the summer capital to Jammu the winter by virtue of its contents will trample the legtimiate democratic rights of people. As has been experienced in the past that that such laws have always been misused by successive popular governments for the matters of their own conveniences, Mehbooba Mufti the incumbent Chief Minister should not have granted her consent to the passing of an ordinance by the governor. Interestingly the Mehbooba government for the second consecutive year did not call the summer session for the second consecutive year this year just to break a good precedence set by the previous regimes, a well defined legislation instead of Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 would have been enforced with the consent of the state assembly. Admitting herself many a times in the past that there are already enough laws in place to deal with law and order situations , the people of the state reserve the right to ask Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti questions on her government’s questionable and controversial consent to “Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017”.
The time when demands against the softening of the draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) are gaining momentum, the Mehbooba government has come out with one more authoritarian law just to further encroach the democratic rights of the people.
Fact remains even in absence of “Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017” police actions are allowed against public protests over issues like education, health care, electricity food, water and roads etc. If unemployed youth demand employment and employees, daily wagers, casual labors, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and others protest for their rights, police uses force against them. In all these protests, police even resorts to arm twisting methods to curb such protests. Law like the one matching ““Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017” has the potential of suppressing the genuine rights of people. By all standards of understandabilities imposition of all such laws has far-reaching implications. People reserve the right to ask the incumbent government that would the organizers of public protests on livelihood issues, mis-governance and excessive use of force be also booked under this new law? These are authoritarian laws which trample civil and democratic rights of the people. The time when demands against the softening of the draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) are gaining momentum, the Mehbooba government has come out with one more authoritarian law just to further encroach the democratic rights of the people.
