Delhi Police denying permission for public meeting on Kashmir ‘arbitrary, unconstitutional’, says PUCL

After Delhi Police denied permission for a public meeting on Kashmir at the Gandhi Peace Foundation here, the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Friday termed the move as ''arbitrary, malicious and unconstitutional”.

The PUCL also urged the Centre and the Delhi Police to desist from following “such unconstitutional and unlawful methods'' which are in violation of the constitutional rights of the citizens and harmful to the democratic system.

Delhi Police had denied permission for the public meeting on Kashmir on Wednesday, citing the possibility of law and order disturbance.

The PUCL, in a statement, said it strongly deplores the notice of Delhi Police directing Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF), New Delhi, to cancel the meeting on ''Media Blackout and State Repression in Kashmir” to be organised under the banner of “Campaign Against State Repression” comprising various organisations.

“It is obvious that the reasons advanced by the police do not hold any ground. The meeting was to be held inside the auditorium of the GPF and no permission is required to hold an indoor public meeting. There is no such law. If the police suspected any disturbance, it could have taken adequate measures to control the law and order situation,'' it said.

The event was scheduled to be held at 2 pm at the venue and the speakers included Delhi University professor Nandita Narain; Hasnain Masoodi, retired judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court; CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami; filmmaker Sanjay Kak; Mir Shahid Saleem, Chairman of United Peace Alliance; and Anil Chamadia, senior journalist.

''This meeting on Kashmir was to be addressed by eminent personalities in public life...All are well known figures in public life. It is quite clear that the law and order problem is not the issue, the real motive was to gag the freedom of speech on an important public issue involving rights of the people of Kashmir. Banning an indoor public meeting is totally arbitrary, malicious and unconstitutional,'' the PUCL statement added.

In a communication to the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Station House Officer (SHO) of IP Estate police station had said, ''Information/local input has been received that some anonymous group is planning/organising public meeting on ''Media Blackout in Kashmir'' at 3 pm on March 15, 2023 at Gandhi Peace Foundation. Efforts to get the details of members of the anonymous group have been made but the same could not be verified.”