Srinagar, March 15 (KNS) ; ANC Senior Vice President Muzaffar Shah on Sunday welcomed the Central Government’s decision to revoke the detention of Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act, calling it a necessary correction but warning that isolated gestures cannot substitute for a fair and consistent policy.
In a statement issued in Srinagar, Mr. Shah said the decision shows that even the harshest state actions can be revisited when conscience and reason prevail.
However, he said the same yardstick has rarely been applied to the people of the Kashmir Valley, where thousands remain behind bars, many without trial and others for offences that could have long ago been addressed through clemency.
“Revoking the NSA in one case is a welcome step,” Mr. Shah said. “But justice cannot be dispensed à la carte. Compassion in one instance and indifference in thousands of others exposes a troubling double standard. The government cannot blow hot and cold on a matter as serious as liberty.”
Mr. Shah urged the authorities to undertake an immediate review of detention cases across the Valley, saying that prolonged incarceration without resolution only deepens alienation and keeps families in a cruel limbo.
He also voiced strong concern over the repeated closure of Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid during major religious occasions, including the last Friday of Ramadan, observed as Jumat-ul-Vida.
Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelSuch restrictions, he said, strike at the heart of religious confidence in a region whose social fabric is deeply intertwined with faith and tradition.
“Locking the gates of Jamia Masjid on the most significant days of worship sends the wrong message at the worst possible time,” he said.
“If this pattern continues unchecked, it risks becoming a slippery slope — today Jamia Masjid, tomorrow perhaps Hazratbal Shrine or another revered shrine. Religious freedoms cannot be treated as a matter of administrative convenience,” he added
Shah also took aim at the silence of the region’s elected leadership, saying public representatives must not remain passive when fundamental rights and religious sentiments are repeatedly strained.
“Leadership is tested precisely at moments like these,” he said. “Those elected by the people cannot sit on the fence while civil liberties are curtailed and places of worship are locked. The people expect courage, not quiet acquiescence.”
Shah said the time had come for the authorities to abandon what he described as a “two-track approach” toward the region and adopt a policy rooted in fairness, restraint and equal respect for the rights of all citizens.
“Anything less,” he warned, “only widens the trust deficit and postpones the healing that the region urgently needs.” (KNS)