After the Indian Army refuted her claims on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, activist and J&K People’s Movement leader Shehla Rashid said on Thursday, 22 August, that she will provide evidence if the Army constitutes an inquiry.
“I will give the evidence when the Indian Army constitutes an inquiry. I will give the evidence then,” she said, speaking to ANI.
The Indian Army on Sunday rejected Rashid's claims regarding the situation in Kashmir, calling them “fake” and “baseless”.
In a statement, the Indian Army said:
“Allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid are baseless and rejected. Such unverified and fake news are spread by inimical elements and organisations to incite unsuspecting population.”
TWO SEDITION COMPLAINTS AGAINST SHEHLA
Meanwhile, two lawyers, Alakh Alok Srivastava of the Supreme Court and Virendra Jabra of the Bombay High Court, have filed criminal complaints against Rashid. The complaint has been has been transferred to Special Cell.
Terming Rashid's act as “quite axiomatic”, Srivastava said the “accused is deliberately and intentionally spreading the aforesaid 'FAKE NEWS’ with the intention to incite violence to malign the image of our revered Indian Army nationally as well as internationally to create unrest in the Union Territory of J&K and in other parts of the country.”
The lawyer said the “accused”, via her tweet, has intended to “excite disaffection towards the Government of India”, which is prima facie an offence of sedition under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Jabra, who is the President of an organisation called Lok Kranthi Samajik Sanstha has also levelled similar charges in a letter sent to the Santacruz police station in Mumbai.
Responding to the cases, Rashid on Monday tweeted saying that no ‘rule of law’ exists in Kashmir.
WHAT DID SHEHLA RASHID SAY EARLIER?
In a series of tweets, Rashid claimed that the armed forces were "entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses and deliberately spilling rations on the floor".
She also claimed that four men were called into the "army camp and interrogated".
“A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream,” she said in her tweets.
“In the absence of Internet, phones and media including newspapers, there are gross human rights violations occurring in Kashmir right now which are invisible to the world. There is an AFP report that suggests that 4,000 to 6,000 people have been arrested. Obviously, these are not voluntary arrests. People have been dragged from their homes, tortured and arrested. If the government has nothing to hide from the world, why impose a communication ban?”Shela Rashid to The Wire
Landlines were restored in parts of the Valley on Saturday after almost a two-week lockdown following the effective revocation of Article 370 on 5 August. However, Internet services and cell phones remain blocked in Kashmir.
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