Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 27: Accusing the Govt of defying the verdict of Supreme Court over internet connectivity, Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister regretted that the people in J&K continued to be deprived of what the Apex court described as inviolable fundamental right of citizens.
Singh said this while addressing media persons here today.
He said that what was being offered to the people was very different from what the court had ruled.
“The Supreme Court had held that the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression included right to internet within Art 19 and restrictions under it have to follow the principles of proportionally under Art 19 (2),” Harsh expressed.
He said that the directives of the Apex court had been misinterpreted rather manipulated by the govt by issuing orders for restoring 2G connectivity which is virtually nonexistent.
“The service providers are unable to provide low speed 2G services in view of the technology having become obsolete. The effect is that there is no delivery on the ground with people having been cheated over the issue and internet restored merely in papers only to fulfil the formality of compliance with Supreme Court orders,” said Singh.
He said going by the Supreme Court orders, the mobile internet services ought to have been restored immediately after January 10, the day of SC ruling, in the same shape in which they existed prior to imposition of ban.
He however lamented that the govt seemed to be hell bent to prolong the agony of the people by continuing with the restrictions.
Flaying the govt for prolonging the longest ever internet ban in the country, Harsh Dev said that it appeared to have taken the people of J&K for granted.
Asserting that the rule of whim prevailed in J&K in sharp contrast to the principles of a democratic system, the NPP Chairman said that the BJP leadership will have to pay a heavy price in the days to come for unwarranted restrictions imposed by it upon the freedoms and rights of the very people who catapulted it to power.
Gagan Partap Singh, State Secretary-JKNPP, Parshotam Parihar, State Secretary-PTU, Surinder Chouhan, District President Jammu Rural-JKNPP & Shanker Singh, Ex-Sarpanch were also present on the occasion.
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