Srinagar, June 21, 2012: Partial information gathered from seven districts of Kashmir including three newly carved out districts reveals that 3400 persons were booked under the draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA) during the past two decades.
The information was furnished by the authorities in response to an application filed under Right to Information Act by human rights activist, Khurram Parvez of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, who says the actual number booked under the PSA exceeds 20000.
According to media reports , as per the official information, 1886 persons were booked in Pulwama district since 1989 under the PSA, which allowed two years and one-year detention without any trial.
In South Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district 1066 persons have served detention under the Act. However, the information about Islamabad (Anantnag) excludes the period between 1989-1993 and 2000-2003. While in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, authority has given partial information about the arrests under the Act. Around 239 persons have been put behind the bars in Baramulla since 2009 under PSA.
More than 200 persons have been booked in newly carved districts of Shopian, Kulgam, Ganderbal and Bandipora districts. Since 2007, 87 PSA detentions have taken place in Shopian, 74 in Kulgam and 41 in Bandipora.
Around 23 persons have been detained under PSA in Ganderbal district.
While Deputy Commissioner Srinagar has refused to disclose the information citing section 8 of the RTI Act, the information from Kupwara and Budgam districts is awaited.
Talking to daily Srinagar based Greater Kashmir, Khurram Parvez said the information is just a tip of ice-berg as the Act was wildly used by the authorities to crush the dissent. He said more than 20000 persons have been booked under the Act by authorities during last two decades on baseless charges.
“The quashing of detentions by the Court has proven that government is holding persons on flimsy grounds under the Act,” Khurram said, said adding that this is a big human rights issue.
PSA dates back to 70s in dispute territory of Jammu and Kashmir and its first victim was the then president of Kashmir Motor Drivers Association (KMDA), Ghulam Nabi. In 1977 the authority introduced the Public Safety Ordinance, and on 8 April 1978 it was officially recognized and became an Act in this land of prison.
Ghulam Nabi was its first victim. But in 1978 Justice MRA Ansari Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court revoked PSA of Ghulam Nabi.