Brig Anil Gupta
The title of this article is a phrase apt to the political party and its leaders past and present who were the architect of the Public Safety Act (PSA) which has suddenly become a subject of debate after the arrest of MLA Doda, Mehraj Malik who publicly abused and threatened District Commissioner (DC) Doda in a manner that amounted to challenging the authority of a public servant vested with constitutional authority of ensuring public safety and maintenance of law and order. The Valley-centric political leadership including the CM were quick enough to seize the opportunity by siding with the errant MLA questioning the propriety of arresting a sitting MLA, a public representative, under the PSA.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah the founder of National Conference and architect of the PSA was an ardent follower of the phrase. Sheikh who dreamt of a one-party state and himself as a singular leader was buoyed by his workers with the slogan “EK QAID (LEADER), EK JAMAAT (PARTY), EK NISHAN (FLAG)” was intolerant to any form of dissent. When the students of GGM Science College Jammu refused to salute his party flag and wanted the Tiranga instead were not only ordered to be arrested but tortured in the jails. The Praja Parishad movement which was opposed to his policies and the special status given to the state under Article 370 promoting autonomy and dominance over Jammu and Ladakh was supressed by the Sheikh using the entire might of the State. The workers of Praja Parishad were jailed and shifted to Kashmir in severe winter denying them adequate clothing and bedding. They were treated like criminals. No dissenting voices were raised in Kashmir. Ironically, Sheikh also enjoyed the support of Delhi and PM Nehru went to the extent of calling the Praja Parishad agitation as “anti-national”. This emboldened the Sheikh who ordered shooting of nationalist leaders and workers of Praja Parishad who were hoisting Tiranga at various places in Jammu. Almost 30 workers were martyred and hundreds injured. None from Kashmir sympathised with them.
Later, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a sitting MP and President of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, a national party, was arrested under the orders of Shiekh and died in custody. Many believe it as the first political custodial death in post-independent India. Sheikh never apologised. Nehru didn’t reply to a passionate appeal of an enquiry made by the bereaved mother.
Coming closer to the recent controversy of detaining a public representative under PSA with the CM terming it as inappropriate and undemocratic, it is pertinent to understand the background of PSA. The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventive detention law specific to J&K, enacted by Sheikh Abdullah, to maintain “the security of the state or the maintenance of public order” by allowing authorities to detain individuals without trial for two years. The law empowers the DC to issue detention orders against individuals deemed a threat to security or public order. The law does not provide immunity to sitting public representatives.
Incidentally, Professor Bhim Singh, a prominent Dogra politician, activist, and founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, was the first victim of the PSA when he was arrested by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 for being a vocal opponent of the policies of Sheikh Abdullah’s National Conference government. Sheikh Abdullah served as Chief Minister (or Prime Minister, as the position was then known) of Jammu and Kashmir from 1948 to 1953 and again from 1975 until his death in 1982. The law has been used liberally by his successor and subsequent governments against political opponents.
Bhim Singh, came from a family opposed to Abdullah’s land reforms that disproportionately affected Jammu’s agrarian communities, emerged as a student activist in the late 1950s and early 1960s, aligning with the anti-Abdullah Jammu Praja Parishad movement led by Pandit Prem Nath Dogra.
The most notable arrest under the Public Safety Act (PSA)-a preventive detention law enacted in 1978 during Sheikh Abdullah’s second term to combat timber smuggling but widely used against political dissenters-occurred in 1978. Bhim Singh was detained in Srinagar Central Jail for speaking out against Sheikh Abdullah and his administration’s policies, which he criticized him as favouring Kashmir Valley elites at the expense of Jammu’s interests. This included advocacy for greater regional autonomy for Jammu, opposition to Article 370’s special status (which he long sought to abolish for full integration with India), and protests against perceived discrimination in resource allocation and political representation. His activism, including hunger strikes and public rallies, was seen by the government as a threat to public order, justifying PSA invocation to detain him without trial for up to two years. He unlike Mehraj Malik didn’t use unparliamentary language nor did he threaten the authorities or challenged the authority. He was also a sitting MLA protesting democratically but was arrested by Sheikh for threatening public order. It clearly displays the hypocrisy and duplicity of National Conference.
During this detention, Bhim Singh was allegedly poisoned in jail, an incident he and his supporters attributed to efforts to silence his criticism of Abdullah. He spent a total of about eight years in various detentions across his life due to such political activities amid Jammu and Kashmir’s insurgencies and regional tensions, but the 1978 PSA arrest stands out as a direct action under Sheikh Abdullah’s regime.
This arrest exemplified the use of PSA as a tool for political suppression in the state, a practice that persisted under subsequent governments, including those led by Sheikh Abdullah’s son Farooq.
I am reminded of another English proverb, “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander” meaning what is suitable or acceptable for one person should also be acceptable for another emphasizing fairness and equality in treatment. All those opposing the arrest of MLA Doda on frivolous and untenable arguments must pay heed to it. How can same action be appropriate for one and inappropriate for the other?
(The writer is a Jammu based veteran security and strategic analyst)
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