The constitution, mandate, composition, means of consultation and timing of the Criminal Law Reform Committee are particularly concerning in the context of Kashmir. Here's why.

A thread.

#DisbandtheCommittee #notthisway

Constitution & Mandate:

The Committee has been set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs - the same ministry that is responsible for the functioning of policing and investigative agencies whose excesses in Kashmir are well-documented. (1/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

The Committee’s mandate equating individual security and national security is deeply disturbing for Kashmir, where the collective and individual security of the people has always been compromised in the name of national security. (2/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

In Kashmir, a regime of draconian laws like the PSA, AFSPA have been systematically used to create an atmosphere of impunity for human rights violations – all under the garb of national security. (3/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

Perhaps the Committee needs to be reminded that the ongoing restriction of internet services in Jammu & Kashmir, which is nothing short of collective punishment, was also imposed for so-called national security reasons. (4/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

Online Consultation:

The adoption of an online method of consultation at a time when there are government-imposed restrictions on internet access throughout Jammu & Kashmir is sinister. (4/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

The Committee’s admission that it “consciously” decided to adopt an online mode, despite knowing that the people of Kashmir can only access 2G internet can only be regarded as a deliberate choice to exclude the people of Kashmir from this important deliberative process. (5/n)

Again, it is not unknown that the State machinery uses criminal laws as a tool to suppress the people of Kashmir, as is evidenced by the thousands of arbitrary and unlawful detentions of Kashmiris over the past year. (6/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

To reform criminal laws by freezing out a population that has for decades borne the brunt of the damaging effects of the criminal justice system is abhorrent and yet another instance of the authoritarian pattern that the Indian government demonstrates in Kashmir. (7/n)

Composition:

Committee’s composition is severely lacking. It excludes women; racial, sexual, gender, religious and caste minorities; members from the working class; persons with disabilities; and, marginalized groups that are over-policed, like Kashmiris. (8/n)

The custodial and extra-custodial uses of force and the use of new and outdated laws to limit freedoms are a very real part of Kashmiri lives that demand attention and correction – a Committee that lacks representation from Kashmir is simply incapable of doing that. (9/n)

Timing:

At a time when several Kashmiri political leaders, activists, lawyers, and other civilians are under detention or in jails on account of abuse of criminal laws, no reform by the Committee can ever be meaningful as it ignores their concerns about state excesses. (10/n)

Langauge:

The Committee’s website & questionnaires are entirely in English. In the specific context of Kashmir, it bears noting that Urdu is the language of all court and prosecutorial processes (e.g., filing of FIRs, chargesheets, pleadings, documentation). (11/n)

Notwithstanding threats to Urdu continuing as the prosecutorial language, it is a fact that those familiar with the criminal justice system in Kashmir, including the local police, primarily verbalize their expertise in Urdu. (12/n)

#DisbandtheCommittee

Therefore, the use of English also excludes the voices of the people of Kashmir, who are already disadvantaged by the web-based consultation process. (13/13)

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