NEW DELHI: “I want answers from the country’s biggest institution which is the Supreme Court (SC),” Kashmiri student Aleem Syed said as he sought to know the well-being of his parents back in his state. “I have been unable to hear a word from my family or know about their well being from last six days due to the government’s communication blockade. We look at the apex court as the epitome of justice so I want to hear what it has to say about our plight,” he told The Sunday Standard.
Syed, a law graduate from the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, filed a petition in the SC on Sunday. “Day before the communication was snapped on 5 August midnight, I remember speaking to my mother and she was having an impression the apprehensions of locals about something big going to happen were just rumours. So, I am afraid that my family would be short of basic essentials including my mother medicines which she takes for blood pressure,” said Syed, who hails from Anantnag, a volatile areain South Kashmir.
His petition describes the clampdown as the 'most draconian in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.' “As I narrate my plight, I feel like it is the situation of every Kashmiri right now. Amid this information blackout in the valley, we are reading reports of clashes, injured which is increasing our level of apprehensions. I can’t confirm about my family’s well being so I took this step,” he added.
Syed fears that his parents have been detained in Kashmir as he is unable to reach them by any mean. In the petition, Syed states that “this information blackout and restriction on movement in J&K is in violation of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The Petitioner ears that his parents are detained as he is unable to contact for last 5 days and in absence of any concrete information, he is only left with rumors of violence...”