Civil servant-turned-politician Shah Faesal wasn’t immediately arrested after the state of Jammu & Kashmir was dismantled on 5 August. He was detained on 14 August when he was trying to go to Harvard University to complete his course. A friend of his told The Hindu that the authorities who detained him at Delhi airport asked him about the interview he had given to the BBC the previous day.
Packed off to Srinagar, he was detained there under the draconian Public Safety Act, using which the government can detain anyone it likes without trial, without giving a reason, for six months. (Hail democracy.)
Far from being any cause for trouble in J&K, Shah Faesal was running away to Harvard. (What a politician who deserts his people in a time of great crisis. No wonder many think the government did him a favour.)
Also read: All lines on this route are closed: Getting my mother out of Kashmir in a lockdown
The real reason
It is clear that the real reason why Shah Faesal has been under house arrest is because he gave the BBC an interview. And what did he say in the interview? Did he demand azaadi for Kashmir? Did he say Pakistan zindabad? Far from it. He actually expressed faith in Indian democracy and its institutions. He only disagreed with the Narendra Modi government’s decision to dismantle the state of Jammu & Kashmir, and the manner in which it was done. Modi is murdering the Constitution he said, something that opposition leaders have accused the government of the day of doing all the time.
And that’s why he is under arrest, his civil liberties suspended, his voice muzzled. Let it be very clear that Shah Faesal’s only crime is that he doesn’t agree with Narendra Modi. This is what authoritarian regimes do. This is what Indira Gandhi did during the Emergency. Opposition leaders are jailed to prevent them from speaking to the public. Authoritarian regimes tend to muzzle the voice of the opposition when the truth is inconvenient.
This is also why Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and many of their family members have also been incarcerated. These are all Indian politicians who have held the Indian flag high in a place rife with separatism, at great risk to their personal lives. But today they have been thrown under the bus, and lest they protest, they have been put in a makeshift prison.
They have been jailed because of their conscience; people who have been jailed for nothing more than a difference of opinion. It is a great shame that nobody is paying more than lip service to this injustice. ‘Preventive custody to maintain law and order’ is the standard Raj-era excuse for muzzling dissenting voices and creating a false illusion of consensus.
Also read: Should India worry about China and Pakistan pushing the UNSC on Kashmir?
Silenced before you may disagree
Following the dramatic, unilateral constitutional changes announced on 5 August, the Modi government has tried to produce a false narrative that everything is fine in Kashmir, and Kashmiris are happy. To prop up this false narrative, it is necessary that Kashmiri politicians are not seen on TV or on the streets opposing what the Modi government did.
For a brief while that PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was able to tweet while she was under house arrest, she wrote, “The overwhelming mandate that Modi ji got had given us hope that like a statesman he too would tread the path taken by Vajpayee ji & reach out to people of J&K. What an utter betrayal of trust.”
Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference was placed under an undeclared house arrest and Home Minister Amit Shah said in Parliament that he wasn’t. The Home Minister of India is lying, he said. Farooq broke free and spoke to NDTV, and he’s now again under house arrest, his plea to offer Eid prayers at a mosque rejected.
Omar Abdullah asked people to stay calm and not take to violence just before his freedom was taken away. Cheap propaganda stories have been planted through stenographer-reporters about how Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are fighting in ‘jail’. Having murdered democracy, the Modi government wants cheap thrills.
Some leaders of mainstream political parties have been shifted to jails in Agra and Bareilly. In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter demanded to know why she’s been placed under house arrest.
She writes, “However, the security personnel have cited my interviews to various media portals and newspapers as the reason for my detention. In fact, I’ve been threatened with dire consequences if I speak up again.”
Also read: Family of Greater Kashmir journalist claims Army, CRPF men arrested him, but don’t know why
Threatened not to speak
It seems that along with Article 370, Modi-Shah have also abolished Article 19, which guarantees fundamental rights such as the right to freedom of speech and expression. We don’t know how many Kashmiri politicians are in jail just because their opinion is different from Modi and Shah’s, but it was said to be 400 in just the first two days. The arrests of journalists have also begun.
Nobody in India today empathises with Kashmiris, but who’s to say the Modi government won’t follow the same strategy across India? If opposition leaders are jailed, local media stifled, the internet cut off, how will we know if people are happy or screaming in rage? If this is not the murder of the Constitution, what is?
The Modi government wants obedience from the people, from the media and from the opposition. Soon, it will demand we must all sing this song or be ready to be jailed.
https://youtu.be/uXIYTbYVdnw
Views are personal.
Do you really want to Narendra Modi
That is When Possible A Agar Kuch log real bandi bn Jaye toh this is i think is You in now the spray in chemical spray in now
Let us get blunt and realistic. J&K is a strategic jugular on the body of India. For decades we have prevaricated and appeased separatist and later Islamist militants who wish to harm India and are funded by Pakistan. This had to be faced and faced with reality and realistic measures. Pakistan is economically at its weakest and so is the Opposition in India. This is the right time for Modi Govt to strike and remove Art 370 and sort out once and for all the Kashmir problem which was not done by Nehru when it mattered. If the interim period does require harsh or even draconian measures – constitutional and not militaristic, so be it. This is no time for democratic niceties in the short run when the integrity of the Indian State is at stake. Kashmiris have a choice – integrate and participate in the development and prosperity with the rest of India or opt for ruin with Islamists who are just rabid fanatics. We have seen what they have done to Pakistan. Hopefully the Kashmiris will recognise that. But if not then it will take longer and sustained clampdown to achieve a semblance of tranquility and normalcy. Time for appeasement is over. Kashmiri Pandits must rerun to their homeland. For once we have a Govt leadership that will do what is in the long term strategic interests of India. They got that mandate to pursue this course in the 2019 election in spades.
There are some reports indicating that Shah Faesal had plans to go to the Hague and file a complaint against India at the International Court of Justice.
PFA the links of the said reports.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/aug/17/faesal-planned-to-file-case-at-icj-2020114.html
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/bureaucrat-turned-politician-shah-faesals-party-says-he-was-travelling-abroad-to-file-case-against-india-at-icj
If these reports are true then my only question to Mr. Shah Faesal is Why the hurry to file a case in ICJ and Why not approach supreme court of India?
Also Shah Faesal was apprehended while traveling to Turkey. It is a well acknowledged fact that Turkey is a close ally of Pakistan and one of the few islamic countries to openly support Pakistan on article 370 issue. In light of the fact that Mr. Shah Faesal was apprehended while attempting to travel to Turkey casts a serious question of Mr. Faesal colluding with Pakistan to internationalize article 370 issue.
Do take ka anpad writer, aur do kaudi ka article. Chaapne wala alag, hi namuna printer printer.. Bhai aise article se to ham toilet paper bhi na bnaye, Sala chuttad bhi gande hojaeyge aise gande print se. Pathetic PROPAGANDA MACHINES on weed.
This so called journalist should be unemployed. I just started to read thePrint but it may not last long.
Dear presstitute,
Corrupt leader are being detained for their own security. Separatist , terrorist and Pakistanis will try to kill these leaders and build chaos and violence.
These leaders of Kashmir valley are staying in luxuary rooms .
Nehru inserted the temp
Art 370 the idea was to facilitate mainstream parties to work for integration of the state with India while facilitating keep their kashmiri identity.However the Abdullahs and Muftis did just the opposite —hobnobbling with Islamic majoritarian politics of Pakistan to wean the state away from India discriminating with minorities of Jammu n Ladakh region as also not doing Anything to stop ethnic cleansing cleansing of Hindus in the early ninetys.That’s why the temp Art has to go to facilitate the objective of full integration.As these leaders have been found to act I prejudicial manner to country’s interest they have been detained.Evidentlt their future depends on the type of politics they adopt.
Hi
Rest of Indian population wanted Kashmir s to live good life, please don’t support jihadist and currupt political parties.
So many years you have been misguided. In India only you have more liberty to talk, Love this country and please don’t break this country.
My dear friends please use this change and get development for next generation.
Thanks
I think the people like you take the disadvantage of freedom of speech. If someone threatens your own falimy then would you say that its his own freedom of speech. If by provoking by some people, your family has been already stoned, then what you would do? What’s being done now only for the betterment of this country. Those who are under house arrest bcz they are the fuel to disturbance. Your biased view is also provoking few people. So stop influencing others by this type of article.
Well Said.
The lutyens in the mask are hiding the facts under freedom of speech. Their presence is very dangerous to democracy and innocent public will think they are right.
What Kashmir politicians were doing to stop terrorist attacks and killing for decades? Who was financing our army Jawan’s. Just because they were given instruction ,not to fire on civilians.,those who died were someone’s son ,brother ,husband or some one’s father.No nation will accept it.
Counterpoint:
1. it is easy to disagree, but dangerous to use media platforms and create unrest. The arrest must be seen in this light.
2. A party getting a huge mandate TWICE can hardly be called authoritarian.
3. India desperately needed a Leader and Party willing and able to take BOLD decisions on Security, Economy and External Affairs.
If getting majority justifies draconian action, then Indira was right in declaring the 1975 emergency
The so called “Liberal” and “Unbiased” media houses like ThePrint have taken their hatred for Modi / BJP / RSS to the next level with this post. Media should have the common sense that any inflammatory statement by the leaders placed in house arrest can lead to unrest in the region. Even if 10 people listen to the hate comment by the seperatist, the entire region would suffer. The entire nation supports the governments move. If ThePrint cannot read the mood of the people and publish such articles, i can only see the readership declining.
Stop thinking people as fools every one knows what is right and wrong. Don’t try to do propoganda journalism. Because of freedom of speech and indian people’s patience you are writing irrational things. Look at the majority Narendra Modi and Amit Shah govt got. Even a small kid understands this people not like but love for their work. And second what is wrong in giving Kashmiri children the right of education that was not been their because of article 370.
Good article. Thanks for the lovely song. I don’t agree with the article in some ways, but a democracy won’t exist without checks like these. I am actually scared of such a situation.
If u have brains u can easily make out that just few separatist leaders were ruling j&k & they were using people of kashmir as puppets. Now without separatists all kashmiris r directionless as u can clearly see bcoz of no stone peltings,otherwise people would still have come on streets to throw stones but they didn’t get money for that so no stone pelters…and majority wants development including jammu & ladakh. Kashmiris r misleaded. Why almost all separatists have married foreigners? Why their childrens study in foreign? Why other kashmiris r deprived of even normal education? & why most kashmiris come run to delhi to study? Such as shah Faisal… Then tina Dabi’s husband also & many more successful kashmiris completed their education from other states…so think THE PRINT b4 writing if u r actually a true Indian who wants development for its country or just another anti nationalist in the name of secularism?
The print can go to hell.
You can go to hell first.
So many Intellectual views in favour of removing Article 370. The state politicians are there in state for many years why they couldn’t stop stone pelting, why shouting anti indian slogans, why Isis and Pak flags are shown, why there is no reduction in terrorist activities, why anti indian sentiments are taught in Madarsas. We are surprised when children speak against India. Abdullas and Muftis got many years to rule, but it’s quite clear they are not honest to their duties. They are answerable to our constitution. I believe there are many Kashmiri people living in fear of these terrorist’s. So their voice will not count. The way Pak is raising this issue it’s quite clear that the terrorist’s are sponsored by Pak. The current suffering of Kashmiri people is temporary. I am hopeful things will improve.
I suggest THEPRINT that the step taken by government on 5th August was mandatory for j & k. All leaders of j&k are got funds from terror occupy Pakistan, the took lac crore from Indian government for progression of j&k but they created only their own house. Stone pleating youngest are funded by these leaders, you only observe your piont of view, look in inner side of these corrupt j&k leaders then you realise what actually gone wrong with j&k in past 70yrs. I think its a good step taken by government and i appreciate the step of prime minister modi and honorable home minister. Keep your negative review in your own mind. Jai hind
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Anilkumar Chakravarty, Perfect and very logical comment by you. Media need to be neutral, it should simply write whatever happened on ground without writing its so called expert poking opinion. Print seems to biased as a neutral media will write on Atrocities on Non Muslim Kashmiri people as well as atrocities on Balochistan, Gujrat riot caused by Godhra massacre.So I stopped trusting such medias including NDTV.
If your views r personal then pls keep it your self.
No body has asked abt your one sided comments n views on the national integrity .
It’s the media houses the one like yours who are dividing people of our country someway or the other.
Shame Shame THE PRINT!
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Modi is a people’s man. Not much of uproar against the decisions except from opposition parties and leftists. Just look at the social media support the govt recieved. Don’t say all those are fabricated. Nothing has happened here except bringing the region under the ambit of Indian federation. This means, like any other citizen in this country, Kashmiris will also face Indian laws and enjoy constitutional rights. Don’t deny that those under detention are upholding pak agenda of Separation. To avoid incitement and instigation to cataclysmic levels, which these leaders are known for, detention is necessary. Govt is brave enough to do that. Also no one is concerned about the rehabilitation of over 5 lakhs pandits who were driven away just because they were not Muslims. Why do you sound more like a desparate Pakistan minister?
You seem to be intellectually divyayang bcos of malnourishment at shakha.
More than 100000 people killed in Kashmir. That is what Faisal says. Who were responsible for this nonsense. Militants have killed Faisal’s father. This guy got every thing from govt of India and the entire state lived on the support from Govt of India, otherwise it would have been another POK breeding jihadis. This guy Faisal would have been leading some Jihadi school.