CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Tuesday urged the government to restore rule of law and let leaders of opposition parties move around freely.
In a statement, Tarigami said the house restrictions on the movement of political leaders and political activists in Kashmir is “arbitrary and unlawful”. Even those who have been released from detention centres in the recent months are being denied permission to meet visitors and are being prevented from any movement outside their houses which is highly unfortunate, he said.
The leaders of National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, CPI(M), Peoples Conference, J&K People’s Movement and other parties have been subjected to unlawful restrictions since 5 August 2019, he said and questioned under which law these restrictions are being imposed.
The house detentions without any administrative orders amount to undermining human rights and individual liberty.
There should be a rule of law but instead, the laws are being flouted by the administration.
Repressive and arbitrary measures are part of the BJP government’s wider politics of silencing dissent, Tarigami alleged.
Freedom of thought, belief and expression are fundamental rights in any democracy. To put restrictions on the movement of political leaders is to betray the constitution and democracy, he added.