Govt declines info about Dastegeer shrine blaze

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Sat, 11 May 2013 08:50 AM

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has declined to give information under the RTI (Right to Information) Act about the gutting of revered Dastegeer Sahab shrine last year, saying the disclosure will “impede the investigation.”
“The information asked by you cannot be provided to you for the reason same is exempt from the disclosure in view of the context of clause “g” of section 8 of J&K Right to Information Act, 2009,” says the reply from the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir in response to an RTI application filed by Advocate Mudasir Naqashbandi.
Naqashbandi had sought a copy of the report of inquiry ordered by the government into the mysterious fire. The 200-year-old shrine of Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani (RA), popularly known as Dastegeer Sahab, at Khanyar in the heart of downtown Srinagar was gutted in a major blaze on June 25 last year, sending entire Valley in grief and anger.
To calm the tempers, the state government immediately ordered a probe appointing the Divisional Commissioner as the inquiry officer to ascertain the cause of the fire as well as the response of the agencies and departments concerned.
The government had then said that inquiry officer will submit the report within a week’s time. The deadline, however, stretched into months, and on July 31 the government formally gave orders granting two more weeks to the inquiry officer for submitting his report. Finally, on August 15 the inquiry officer submitted the report to the government.
Naqashbandi termed the government explanation as bizarre, given that the inquiry officer has already completed the investigation and submitted the report to the government.
“The inquiry officer submitted the report two months after the incident, without establishing the cause of the fire. Instead, the report gave recommendations like installation of fire alarm bells, smoke detection systems, underground water tanks, etc,” Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader.
Under the clause ‘g’ of section 8, Naqashbandi says, they (Divisional Commissioner’s office) have not given the information on the pretext that disclosure of the said information would impede the process of investigation along with apprehension of prosecution of offenders.
“Now I am filing first appeal at Divisional Commissioner office under section 15 of J&K RTI ACT 2009 as the requisite information has not been provided,” Naqashbandi said. “The reasons behind the inferno are still shrouded in mystery and people have a right to know what really happened.”

Govt declines info about Dastegeer shrine blaz

Kashmiri students harassed  in Dehradun Uttrakhan : Muslim Students Organization condemns attack

Srinagar, Febuary 12: Muslim Students’ Organization (MSO) Tuesday strongly condemned the harassment of Kashmiri students in Dehradun Uttrakhand.

In a statement issued here, MSO General Secretary Mudasir Naqshbandi said beating and detaining of Kashmiri students in outside states reveals that they (Kashmiris) are unnecessarily made targets.

“JK government should immediately take up the issue with the States where Kashmiri students are harassed,” and we want immediate release of all the Kashmiri students who have been arrested the statement said

Police abuse video: ‘Perpetrators let off, whistle-blower booked’ LEGAL EXPERTS QUESTION ‘SELECTIVE USE’ OF IT ACT

Police abuse video: ‘Perpetrators let off, whistle-blower booked’ LEGAL EXPERTS QUESTION ‘SELECTIVE USE’ OF IT ACT

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Fri, 11 January 2013 10:30 PM

 

SRINAGAR: Police investigation into the video-clip showing cops brutally thrashing two youths has drawn flak from legal experts here who say that police have filed a case against the whistle-blower of the video and not the erring cops.
On Wednesday, the police registered a case in Baramulla police station after a 2-minute video-clip surfaced showing scores of policemen thrashing two youth before forcing them to strip. The video became viral on social networking websites amid mass outrage.
However, legal experts said that instead of booking the erring cops under assault and criminal charges, police launched investigation on the basis of a controversial law (Section 66A of the Information Technology Act) that is already under fire for its misuse.
Prominent lawyer and human rights activist Parvez Imroz, while condemning the police said the video is a “glaring testimony of state-wide torture that is being perpetuated upon half a million Kashmiris.”
“When the same kind of torture was carried out by US forces in the infamous Abu Ghairab prison, there was an investigation against the accused and they were punished. But here instead of registering an assault charges against the erring cops, they have started an investigation against the whistle-blower who has dared to expose the video,” Imroz told Kashmir Reader.
“They have invoked Section 66A which essentially books the individual who has uploaded the video in the first place, thereby giving cover to those who are involved in this brutal act.”
Echoing similar views, J&K High Court lawyer Mudasir Naqashbandi said that Instead of filing a case to find who uploaded this video on YouTube, “police should have booked the cops who are involved in this barbaric act under charges of grievous hurt, wrongful confinement and attempt to murder.”
“The Section 66A of the IT Act has no immediate standing in this case because the video clearly shows that cops are involved in this ghastly act. The State Human Right commission (SHRC) should take suo-moto cognizance of this barbaric act committed by cops,” Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader.
Section 66A of the IT Act reads: “Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.”
Section 66A was recently in the eye of the storm after it was used by the authorities in Bombay to arrest two young girls. The duo—Shaheen Dhanda, 21, and Renu Srinivasan—who had questioned the Bombay shutdown to mourn the death of Hindu extremist leader and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012, were booked under the Act. The case was withdrawn following public outrage.
Although senior police officials are tight-lipped on the video, a police spokesmen, said that they have not used Section 66A to book the person who has uploaded the video on the YouTube and that it is only a starting point for the investigation.
“The Act involves investigating individuals who have committed crimes relating to Information and Technology with a criminal intent, and let us not jump to conclusions here. This investigation under Section 66A will then subsequently lead us to those cops who were seen thrashing the two youth on the video,” police spokesman Manoj Pandita told Kashmir Reader.

Protest Against Women Molestration In Baramulla

Protest Against Women Molestration In Baramulla