New Delhi, Friday,
January 10, 2020 : The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Remove
All Restrictions in Jammu & Kashmir
The Supreme
Court has made significant comments on the curbs on civil liberties in Jammu
and Kashmir which bely the false claims of normalcy that the Central Government
has been peddling to the country and the world.
The Central
Government on the eve of the judgment tried to reinforce the official claims by
taking a group of foreign envoys on a farcical restricted tour to J&K where
they were allowed to see and hear only what the Government wanted them to,
which is why none of them could meet the three former Chief Ministers still in
jail. When five months after the lockdown, political leaders, MPs and parties
representing the people of this country are virtually banned from visiting
Kashmir, such a tour is insulting to India’s parliament.
The Supreme
Court has criticized the indefinite ban on internet services holding that the use
of internet is a constitutional right and is part of freedom of speech and
expression. It has also held that the repeated use of Sec 144 could not be used as a tool to oppress difference of
opinion. While ordering a review of all such orders within a week it has also
said that Government must put such orders in the public domain so that citizens
affected have the right to challenge them.
The CPI(M) demands that the Central Government remove all such restrictions, fully restore internet services, lift Sec 144 and ensure the democratic rights of the people of Kashmir to freedom of speech and expression.
