The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the lawyer who tried to draw parallels between Kashmir and Hong Kong, which is facing unprecedented pro-democracy protests for over five months.”Is there cross border terrorism in Hong Kong”.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing an intervenor in a matter connected with revocation of Article 370, sought to draw an analogy between the restrictions imposed on people in Kashmir and Hong Kong. Justice Ramana on the bench replied that the Indian Supreme Court is also far superior in upholding the fundamental rights of citizens. Arora asserted that the Hong Kong citizens conducted peaceful protests and the HK court applied the proportionality test for the bar on face mask by the administration.
Justice B R Gavai, who is also on the bench, querying her on the backdrop of protests in Hong Kong, said: “Is there cross border terrorism in Hong Kong?” Justice Gavai insisted that the apex court has delivered an order upholding the rights of the citizens, “Why bank on Hong Kong judgment?”
Arora said a large Army deployment in Jammu and Kashmir leads to the creation of an “inert citizen”, which is not in the interest of democracy, as this citizen behaves with fear on his mind. “For people to speak out, they should be fearless”, she insisted while referring to psychological and physical restraints.”It was the people of Jammu and Kashmir who were worst affected by the abrogation of Article 370. They should have been allowed to air their views”, she told the court.
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