Neeraj Chauhan

neeraj.chauhan@hindustantimes.com

New Delhi : A group of around 100 retired civil servants released an open letter on Thursday, asking people to insist that the government withdraw recent amendments to the Citizenship Act and scrap the plan to build an all-India National Register of Citizens.

The retired civil servants, who have come together under the aegis of the Constitutional Conduct Group, also countered the government’s latest effort to delink the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the ongoing National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC).

“The three issues are linked,” it said in the open letter designed to “acquaint people with the facts” and “emphasise why these measures need to be resolutely opposed”.

The open letter has the names of 106 retired civil servants, including around 25 former secretaries to the central government. The list of signatories includes three former foreign secretaries, Shyam Saran, Shiv Shankar Menon and Sujatha Singh; former Indian ambassador to the UK Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, former telecom regulator Rahul Khullar, former chief of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) Meeran C Borwankar; former Asian Development Bank executive director PK Lahiri; former cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar; former chief economic adviser Nitin Desai; former central information commissioner (CIC) Wajahat Habibullah; former Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung; and retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Harsh Mander.

In a much-awaited judgment, the Supreme Court (SC) has finally ruled on the constitutionality of the restrictions in place in Jammu and Kashmir since August. The court’s order is laudable in principle. It has made it clear that freedom of speech through the Internet and the freedom to practise any profession, which depends on the Internet, encompasses the freedom to access the Internet — and this makes it a fundamental right (by extension). This builds on a Kerala High Court judgment that declared the right to Internet a fundamental right. This is particularly important since India has now seen the longest Internet blackout in any democracy in the world. The court has also asked the Centre to produce orders — which it was unwilling to do — justifying the use of Section 144 and other restrictions, and said these are subject to judicial review. It has added that these restrictions on rights cannot be indefinite. It has called for the immediate resumption of essential services such as hospitals, government websites and banking. And it has asked the competent authority to review other restrictions within seven days.

This will elicit a sigh of relief from residents of the Valley as well as strengthen the fundamental architecture of civil liberties in India by laying out a strong precedence in jurisprudence about what the executive can do, and cannot do, even as it seeks to strengthen security. With its order, the apex court has opened the door for restoration of normalcy in Kashmir. At a larger level, the ruling sets precedents that make the Internet shutdown process more transparent, ensures that there can’t be indefinite shutdowns, and actually specifies a time-frame for a review (seven days).

But there are two concerns which merit attention. The first is timing. The apex court has taken over five months to lay out these principles. Civil liberties must be of the highest priority, and this reflects a certain degree of abdication of responsibility, for through this period, Indian citizens have had to live with curtailed rights. The SC’s judgment also does not provide immediate relief. It leaves the door open for the executive to argue that these orders are justified on security grounds, and for another, perhaps prolonged, legal process for the full resumption of rights. The SC should have built on its own principles to provide for immediate restoration of rights. But the good news is that by opening the door for liberty, it has strengthened democracy.

Mir Ehsan and Rezaul H Laskar

letters@hindustantimes.com

Srinagar/New Delhi : A group of 15 envoys and diplomats on Thursday interacted with security officials, politicians and civil society representatives in Srinagar as part of the first such visit organised by the government since Jammu & Kashmir’s special status was revoked on August 5, 2019, restrictions on movement and communication imposed, and many political leaders detained.

The group, which is making a two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir to assess the ground situation, includes US ambassador Kenneth Juster, South Korean envoy Shin Bong-kil and Norwegian envoy Hans Jacob Frydenlund. The diplomats had “frank interactions” during their meetings, ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in New Delhi.

Soon after their arrival, the diplomats went to 15 Corps headquarters, where security officials and army commanders briefed them on the situation in Kashmir after Article 370 of the Constitution was nullified last August, and the challenges in maintaining security, including the threat of terrorism and the situation along the Line of Control (LoC).

The external affairs ministry spokesperson said the objective of the visit was for the envoys to see first hand the government’s efforts to normalise the situation and “and how normalcy has been restored to a large extent”, but members of the Opposition, such as leaders in the Congress, said that similar opportunity to visit the region should also be given to Indian politicians.

The diplomats had a luncheon meeting with former legislators and ministers led by Altaf Bukhari, former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) minister. There were also interactions with civil society representatives from all over Kashmir and the local media.

“We discussed issues related to Kashmir with the diplomats,” said Bukhari. Another former minister, Ghulam Hassan Mir, who heads the Democratic Political Party, said the envoys wanted to learn about the situation.

“We told them after the state was degraded into a Union Territory, the Centre promised development here but there are still no signs of development. We told them about [the need for] internet restoration and release of political prisoners, including three former chief ministers, whose detention is not required now,” Mir said. While many of the restrictions imposed on August 5 have since been eased, a significant number of political leaders continue to remain in detention

Congress leader and former legislator Shoaib Lone, who said he met the diplomats in a personal capacity, added that the political leaders had asked the envoys to “play a positive role for ending hostilities between India and Pakistan”.

Budgam municipal council chairman Hakeem Rohullah said the diplomats posed several questions about communications, the economy and the situation in the Valley. “It was a very fruitful discussion,” he said.

After their arrival, the diplomats travelled in bulletproof SUVs to reach Lalit Hotel near the Dal Lake.

Roads leading to the hotel were closed to traffic. The convoy passed through some main markets of Srinagar, where shops were open and transport was plying normally.

HT Correspondent

letters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI : The newly-created department of military affairs, headed by the chief of defence staff (CDS), will be staffed with two joint secretaries, 13 deputy secretaries and 25 under secretaries, a government official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the officers would be a mix of civilians and uniformed personnel.

The new department, under CDS General Bipin Rawat, is an addition to the four existing verticals in the defence ministry: the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development, and ex-service welfare. As CDS, Rawat is the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services.

He took over as the country’s first CDS on December 31.

In his first official directive after taking over as CDS, Rawat last week asked top officials of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to prepare a proposal to create an Air Defence command to enhance military synergy and optimally utilise the resources of the armed forces. Rawat has set a June 30 deadline for the proposal to be submitted.

In the last few days, he held series of meetings with important functionaries of the defence ministry and the three services exploring ways to bring in inter-service synergy and jointness in a time bound manner.

The government expects the CDS to bring about jointness among the three services within three years.

He is expected to prepare an annual report for the defence minister on achievements in improving jointness.

One of the key objectives behind so-called jointmanship is the setting up of joint or theatre commands for the best use of military resources to fight future battles. While the army and the navy have been open to the idea, the Indian Air Force has concerns about theaterisation.

The new department will also work towards promoting the use of indigenous equipment by the services at a time when the armed forces are heavily dependent on imported military hardware.

“The creation of the new posts is a step towards achieving the ultimate goal of bringing in tri-services synergy. The department needs to have officers who understand cross-service issues and are well versed in government procedures,” said Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), a leading expert on issues related to the tri-services.

HT Correspondent

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

Chandigarh : Punjab Police on Friday seized two highly sophisticated China-made drones, and arrested an army jawan and two smugglers having links with Pakistan-backed narco-terror module. The drones were being used to smuggle weapons and drugs from across the border, police said.

The police have also seized drone batteries, custom-made drone containers, two walkie-talkie sets, ₹6.22 lakh in cash (believed to be proceeds of drugs) and the magazine of an INSAS rifle from the accused.

According to DGP Dinkar Gupta, those arrested have been identified as Dharminder Singh of Dhanoa Khurd village in Amritsar, army Naik Rahul Chauhan of Pooja Vihar in Ambala Cantonment in Haryana, and Balkar Singh of Kalas village in Amritsar.

Dharminder was arrested from a Hardo Rattan village on the Indo-Pak border, while Balkar was brought on Production warrant on Thursday from Amritsar jail where he is lodged in a drug case. Chauhan was reportedly involved in procuring and supplying drones and training to smugglers. He is said to be the kingpin of the racket.

The DGP said the drones, capable of travelling 2-3 kms on either side of the border were reportedly being launched from the Indian side to fly into Pakistan to pick up payloads of narcotics. He said two members of this module were still absconding and investigations were underway to find out the accused other links.

“Preliminary investigations confirmed that Chauhan was directly involved in operating drone sorties across the border for picking up heroin as well as weapons from Pakistan with the help of his associates in India and Pakistan. He and his accomplices were in direct contact with Pakistani smugglers on encrypted messaging platforms. Latest plan was to send one of the walkie talkie sets across the border to Pakistan to facilitate two-way communication,” said the DGP.

In September last year, police had busted Pakistan-supported Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) module that was dropping arms and ammunitions in border areas using drones.

The members have revealed that they were involved in cross-border smuggling of drugs and weapons over drones over the past few months. The first drone (Quadcopter) was recovered from an abandoned government dispensary building in Modhe village in Amritsar, hidden by Dharminder and his associates. The second drone was recovered from a house in Karnal on the disclosures of Chauhan. The house belongs to a friend of Chauhan.

Gupta said the police had launched a covert operation to ensure close monitoring and checking of the border areas in view of the recent influx of weapons and drugs from across the border through drones as well as other means.