Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 18: Charging the district administration Udhampur with partisan posturing and openly promoting the political interests of BJP at the behest of their political masters, NPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh today questioned the imposition of Sec 144 CrPc in entire tehsils of Basantgarh and Latti where Panthers Party meetings were scheduled to be held on October 15, 16 and 17.
Addressing a press conference here today, he said that hundreds of Policemen had been deployed in the aforesaid two tehsils to thwart the political functions which had been organized by several Panchayats including Mang, Basantgarh, Loudra, Balota Upper, Pachound, Rasli Gaderan, Chhattrari and Keya on the aforesaid dates by the public to felicitate him for his contributions and his persistent struggle for the cause of the people.
Accusing the Assistant Commissioner (R), Udhampur of playing in the hands of some failed, corrupt disgruntled politicians, Harsh Dev said that it was strange that a District officer and acting Additional District Magistrate should become a party to scuttle the democratic rights of opposition and issue such prohibitory orders without any justification only to please his political bosses. He regretted that it was the fourth such occasion when Sec 144 CrPc had been imposed in Ramnagar constituency in the last one year to prevent the JKNPP from holding public meetings on the directives of BJP leaders.
He said that earlier on Dec 28, 2016 prohibitory orders were issued under Sec 144 CrPc in village Bharnara of tehsil Majalta where Panthers Party had announced a public rally. Likewise, prohibitory orders were issued for holding meetings in village Sunater and Marta in August 2017 where huge re-enforcements of police contingents were deployed and officers instructed to thwart the rallies of Panthers Party.
He said that it was unique in the history of the State that felicitation functions organized by the local people of remote villages were interrupted and Sec 144 imposed in the private premises of people where the arrangements for public meetings had been made only to deprive and deny the opposite of their fundamental rights. He lamented that heavy contingents of police threatened the localities on Oct 15 in Basantgarh including several Ex-Sarpanches, Panches and prominent notables to shelve the programmes.
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