MLAs are not above law, Normal laws should have been invoked with the situation
JK News Today
Jammu, September 11: Doda MLA Mehraj Malik is in the eye of storm following his arrest and subsequent slapping of Public Safety Act ( PSA) on him . this Action has been taken on the basis of an FIR lodged by Deputy Commissioner , Doda, and Harvinder Singh, who alleged that he was abused and the politician had sought to incite the people, thus posing a threat to public order.
Two issues have cropped and those are dominating the political narrative . A question which is being asked with a lot of emphasis , what had the MLA done t invite slapping of draconian law like PSA on him . The PSA , which is meant to be invoked , for timber smugglers, terrorists and other anti-national elements and now also for drug peddlers and hardened criminals? This is a valid question for which entire political leadership, barring BJP, is asking and demanding answers .
This question has been framed in such a manner in which the MLA , an elected representative , has been kept above the ordinary being – the obvious distinction being that the people are commoners and the MLA is elected, hence he has certain privileges suiting his status as the elected representative . So far so good. The real purpose, however, is to place the blame at Raj Bhawan from where Lieutenat Governor Manoj Sinha exercises his powers in maintaining law and order. All the Deputy Commissioners, IAS or otherwise, down to Tehsildars work under his command . It is true that neither the elected government nor other parties, again excluding BJP, are having their own version on the LG’s sweeping powers in the Union Territory .
If NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah said that whatever turn situation in Doda takes places , it will be the sole responsibility .PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, while asserting that the freedom and the rights of the MLA, have been sacrificed to divert the attention from Hazratbal shrine episode where installation of national emblem and subsequent dismantling of it has created a fierce controversy.
PSA is a draconian law . There is a universal agreement on it, because it doesn’t allow the detainee to approach court , and it all depends on the authorities to judge how to deal with such cases .
Let there be an understanding of the situation first . Mehraj Malik, as an elected MLA , has every right to give vent to his grievances or of those whom he represents, but this does not make him privileged enough to call names or to use abusive language against anyone , leave alone the Deputy Commissioner or any official . As an MLA, his actions and words should be above board . That applies to all , particularly the elected MLAs. There have been several incidents where elected representatives of all parties, without exception , have been confronting civil and police officials and demanding of them services which they were not supposed to .
The MLAs are part of the people. They don’t have any extraordinary privileges when it comes to law . They should be leading with example in their personal and public life as icons of civility and humility .
Now, there is another paramount issue, was it necessary to slap PSA on Mehraj Malik for whatever he said or did . Were the normal laws not sufficient enough ? This issue is important , and it should be viewed in the overall interest of democracy and the national interest . The normal laws cannot be given a go by . The whole thing has to be reconfigured both in its historical perspective and the future. The PSA has been misused discriminately in the decades since it became a law in J&K in 1978. It has also been used for the political opponents . The era since 1978 is a testimony to that, including the period when NC was in power. There also was a promise by the current ruling party that it would do away with the draconian PSA .
There clearly is a need to review the whole process of looking at the invocation of PSA and whether it is required at all, when there are sufficient normal laws to deal with the situations and individuals.
At the moment, when Doda is tense and passions are flaring , let the authorities and the public representatives devise a way forward .
