Srinagar: Pulwama PDP MLA Waheed Para on Tuesday hit out at the ruling National Conference (NC) government in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was more concerned with ease of doing business for the rich than the right to live for common people.
Highlighting disparity in legal treatment, Para argued that corporate infractions are routinely treated as minor administrative errors and are met with mild advisories and nominal penalties, while the youth face severe anti-terror statutes for digital activity or reading materials.
“BJP at the Centre and NC in J&K have passed the Jan Vishwas Bill, decriminalising dozens of laws in the name of ease of doing business. I don’t want to go into the details of the bill, but look at the irony: You talk about ease of doing business, but what about ease of living? What about ease of breathing for a Kashmiri?” Para said in a statement.
“For a business, a violation is a ‘mistake’ to be rectified with a small penalty and a gentle advisory. For a Kashmiri youth, a tweet is terrorism, a book is evidence, and even a like on a Facebook post is enough to be branded a threat and thrown into jail for years without trial under UAPA and PSA,” he added.
The PDP leader outlined what he termed “two doctrines” governing the country — one of inherent trust for businesses and the other of suspicion for the people of Kashmir.
“You have two doctrines. Jan Vishwas for corporates, which says, ‘trust the citizen’. And jail for Kashmiris, which says, ‘suspect every Kashmiri’. Is this justice?” he asked.
He added that generational profiling continues to plague families where youth inherit police dossiers for past allegations against older relatives.
“A businessman who violates the law gets a notice. A Kashmiri youth, whose grandfather and great-grandfather violated a law for which he has already been punished, gets a police dossier even today. You want to reduce the burden on courts for corporates, but you want to fill Tihar, Agra and Kot Bhalwal jails with our sons,” he said.
The Pulwama MLA cited the cases of student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who have remained incarcerated for years under stringent charges primarily stemming from speeches delivered during nationwide protests.
“This is not just about Kashmir. Look at the whole country. You have kept Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in jail for five years without trial. Their crime is a speech, a thought,” Para said.
“If your Jan Vishwas was real, you would trust your own youth, not jail them,” he added.
Para said if the government can forgive a businessman for breaking the law, “why can’t you trust a Kashmiri, a student, a Muslim youth?”