SRINAGAR: The Supreme Court’s verdict that the access to the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 and asking the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review within a week the restrictive orders imposed more than five months ago has been widely welcomed across the Union Territory.
However, many people were not so enthusiastic about the judgement and expressed their doubt regarding government’s abiding by what the top court stated while hearing petitions challenging restrictions in J&K.
Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor Kashmir Times and one of the petitioners who sought the immediate relaxation of restrictions on the Internet and telecommunication services and on the movement of journalists and media persons said, “There’s no immediate relief and that’s disappointing at the moment.
However, the SC has laid down some very significant principles which will have long term impact. This is something very significant in the sense that the court has upheld the citizens’ right and it also holds the state accountable. I think that’s very good”.
She, however, also said that the SC has not said that the government should revoke the internet ban or lift Section 144 CrPC where it is in force.
“It has asked the government to review its decision and take a call on that. Now how the government responses to this is to be seen”.
She lamented also over the fact that the apex court took five months to decide against what it has now termed denial of fundamental right to the people.
“The court has taken five months to decide on this…If it has upheld it on the ground that these are fundamental rights of the people then the decision should have come much earlier”, she said.
Yet Bhasin was of the view that the SC has “revised” hope.
“I hope that the government takes a call on this issue in light of the spirit of the verdict which is upholding the fundamental right of the citizen and holding the government accountable. We’ve gone through immense suffering, faced so many challenges — the media and the people as whole. When we talk about media we don’t talk just about media professionals but we do talk about what the media’s job is and the media’s job is to bring in voices of other people and disseminate information about what is happening to other people. So we’re talking also about the general public at the same time”. She regretted “all this has taken a beating for five months” but said “we waited for all these months and can wait for another week or ten days to see what happens…how the government responds to the SC judgment.”
However, CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said that the government should be held accountable for denying fundamental right to the citizens in the backdrop of the SC’s ruling. He said, “The top court has made significant comments. Its ruling goes against the claims of the Central government regarding normalcy in the state which it has been peddling to the country and the world. The government must be made responsible before law and the people”.
NC while welcoming the SC verdict said that its observations about snapping of Internet services indefinitely are significant and the government must take a call to review and restore the connectivity immediately.
