SRINAGAR: The main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has sharply criticised the government for its draft Police bill which seeks to bring in reforms in the institution, and said it would vehemently oppose its passage in the legislature in the present form.
Party president, Mehbooba Mufti said the proposal to create special security zones (SSZs) and legalisation of Village Defence Committees which could be administered according to the discretion of the police through SPOs could be a sure prescription for continuing the disturbed conditions and denial of basic rights.
“On the one hand the government is making noises on scrapping the AFSPA and on the other it is proposing to provide similar immunity and unbridled powers to its own police and taking them out of all civilian control and guidance,” said Mufti.
She said the state police “is in need of drastic reforms” but criticised many provisions in bill as “undemocratic and anti people”.
“If this Bill is allowed to pass in its present form we will have an Ikhwani state in which the thanedar (Station House Officer) and not the democratic institutions or the elected representatives will set the rules of the society,” Mufti added.
While admitting that there were immediate concerns regarding reforms in the police department, the PDP president said the objective of any new law should be to make it more accountable to democratic institutions, people friendly and socially oriented.
“This draft legislation has all the criteria of a systematic undermining of democracy: namely, the abdication of authority to security forces by an elected government, military-style ‘civilizing’ of civilian society by insultingly presuming to teach them how to stand in line, urinate and defecate,” she said.
The draft bill, she said, seemed like an effort by the government to appease the “muscular nationalists in Delhi with an argument against AFSPA”. It is like “morphing it into a non-military AFSPA that is supposedly willed by the people of our state”, Mufti added.
The leader also criticised the government for including many “backdoor” offences in the draft bill to increase the criminal liability of the Public.
“If this Bill passed then a person can be jailed for wrong parking, cleaning furniture in a public place, urinating on the road side, not caring for pets, overtaking and breaking a queue for essential supplies,” she said.
The PDP leader also took a sharp dig at the government’s invitation for suggestions from the public regarding the draft police bill.
“The government had deliberately chosen this time for inviting suggestions on the bill when means of communication have been severely restricted,” Mufti said.
