SDPI RAISED VOICE AGAINST CHANGES MADE IN UAPA, NIA, RTI AND KASHMIR “FASCIST QUIT INDIA”

New Delhi 09 Aug 2019: Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI) commemorating “Quit India Movement”  organised a protest at Jantar Mantar, in series of nation-wide campaign  “Fascist Quit India” against authoritarian amendments  in laws of UAPA, NIA, RTI, and Kashmir. SDPI National Vice President Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmad and National Secretary Dr. Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani along with SDPI Delhi State Convener Dr. Nizamuddin Khan participated in which hundreds of SDPI cadres also participated. At this moment SDPI leaders said SDPI is seriously concerned with other sections of society including retired bureaucrats, artists, film makers, writers and concerned citizens. Along with the manoeuvres of the saffron forces to hurt the democratic values. SDPI keeping in view the gravity of situation has launched a nationwide campaign on 9th august to commemorate quit India movement and also to register its protest to the fascist mode of Modi government.

Article 22 of the constitution of India guarantees the rights of the citizen against arrest, in the same article preventive detention class was added by way of amendment. Since then, the original spirit of the article has been diluted by various amendments reaching to the enactment of TADA, POTA, MISA, NSA, and UAPA. Expectation to the general rule is that onus to prove guilt lies on the prosecution but in UAPA the arrested person is made to prove himself innocent. By the latest amendment, now any individual may be designated as terrorist. In case of arrest the provision of anticipatory is available to the accused person but after avocational UAPA the police may arrest a person without bringing him to judicial scrutiny for six months and without consideration of jail.

The spirit of Indian democracy lies in the noble characteristic of federalism but it has long been a practice of the central government to encroach upon the list, states are legally authorized to function. Policing has been made a state subject but the sphere of the state jurisdiction had slowly been narrowed down. The relevant example is the national investigation agency (NIA). The UAPA new amendment has put a nail into federalism. By taking the power of approval from the Police Chief of the state to the NIA chief and widening the jurisdiction of NIA to Counterpart Currency, Cybercrime, etc. and side-lining the state police.

After a very long process with the help of Civil Society, Right to Information Act was enacted to make India an open society and working democratic polity. This Act has produced very good results indulging citizens to find themselves accessible to the opaque and secret matters purposely denying the information to the public. The provision of the act has boosted the morale to get the information and to further take legal actions against authorities and high personalities if their conduct was found unconducive to the law and rules. It was a thorn into the flesh of politics when a full bench of Information Commissioner in 2013 put the national recognized political parties into the jurisdiction of the information. None political party carried the instruction and now all of them have in a way let the move of the government be successful to pass the amendment into RTI Act.

The accession of Kashmir was signed after independence on 26th October 1947 in which the ruler of the Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh and Indian government agreed to the larger autonomy to Kashmir having only defence, foreign affairs, communication and related subjects to the Central Government and remaining which were left to the state jurisdiction. To give legality to this arrangement of accession of Kashmir to India Article 370 was incorporated into the Constitution of India, where it was specifically mentioned that no change shall be made without the approval of Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. The government of India by its legislation on 5th august 2019 has acted in violation of constitutional provision and parliamentary procedure by making article 370 inappropriate

The citizen of Jammu and Kashmir being treated like aliens in their own country denying them from all the legal and human rights decisions regarding their state, the law has been imposed without consulting their representative that makes India a banana republic. A number of individuals and organizations are under anguish, are making protest demanding revocation of the decision regarding the state of Jammu and Kashmir and also demanding that Article 370 and Article 35A of the constitution of India be restored. SDPI is also a shoulder to shoulder to those who are fighting for the democratic rights of Kashmir as a part of India.