News Kashmir Magazine

Yasir Altaf Zargar

zargaryasir@gmail.com

The draconian act is no more. The supreme court of India few days back  gave its verdict to struck down Section 66A of the Information & Technology Act claiming it as unconstitutional. The Information Technology Act that made posting “offensive” comments or hatred posts online or electronically a crime punishable by jail for the period of three years.The court quashed the controversial act, saying the section violated the fundamental right to freedom of expression, under article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution.It is 1^st time in the history of India that they gave importance to “free speech” rather than the act.

What is Section 66A of IT act?

The Information Technology Act 2000 was amended in the year 2008. This amended act contains the much debated 66A section. It imposes punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service.

According to CIS-India.org, 66A applies to these cases:

Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device, —

(a) Any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or

(b) Any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,

(c) Any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment for the period of three years or less and with fine.

Who Filed PIL And Why?

The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by law student ShreyaSinghal, who sought amendment in section 66A of the act after two girls — ShaheenDhada and RinuShrinivasan — were arrested in Palghar in Thane district after one of them posted a comment on Facebook against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s death and the other ‘liked’ the post

In the wake of numerous complaints of harassment and arrests, the apex court had on May 16, 2013 issued an advisory that a person, accused of posting objectionable comments on social networking sites, cannot be arrested without police getting permission from senior officers like IG or DCP.After the apex court reserved its judgement in the matter on February 26 this year, another controversial case hogged the limelight for alleged misuse of section 66A in which a boy was arrested on March 18 for allegedly posting on Facebook objectionable comments against senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.

The draconian act invades internet freedom. It arbitrarily, excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free speech.This act was misused by bureaucrats and politicians to suppress their enemies in a legal way. In the past few years, the provision has been invoked to make several arrests. On behalf of the victims, several petitions were moved in the Supreme Court, and these were heard at length by the court.

As we all know India is diverse nation, though freedom of free speech is in its main fundamental principles. Every person has his own right to express his views verbally or non- verbally. A person has right of free speech, and can comment his views regarding any person on internet or by using any electronic mean. Although there are many acts which can lead to blocking  of those websites which post abusive content or any offensive comment. Arresting people on giving their personal views or comments will increase hate among masses towards government and may lead to civil war against government.

If the act was not taken down, the dream of making digital media will be amystery for BJP government. To make India digitalise with modern internet technologies; every person has right to express his views in or against it. Every person can give his personal verdict for any minister or any bureaucrat, can post joke and can make cartoons all it comes under person’s personal views. Those who are in power must be tolerant and liberal towards criticism.The draconian acts needs to be taken down to save India from abrogating freedom of speech as the act in question struck down had occupied freedom of speech.

After the Supreme Court’s verdict, each and every person on social networking portals thanked ShreyaSinghal for filing PIL. Now any person can post his views, on electronic and social portal,can raise their voice for any politician who is harassing people with his power without any fear of getting arrest. For this reason or another, people are likely to shout “ShreyaZindabad” or “Freedom of speech Zindabad”.

About Author:-

YasirAltafZargaris a Security Analyst from Srinagar and the first Kashmiri to be acknowledgedbyGoogle, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Nokia,Adobe, and Apple.He Tweets as @zargaryasir.

By Syeda Mehak Zubair

(mehakzubair@gmail.com)

It’s been a while, since Kashmir was hit by the wrath of river Jehlum but the loss is still immense, the pain still exists and the trauma is still so fresh in our minds.

Even now I recall the tragedy which befell on the people of the valley and it fills me with horror. It must have been day 5 or day 6 of the flood when I visited Bemina, Tengpora for the first time. Houses were still inundated, cars submerged and people who were owners of multi storied houses just five days back, were striving to survive in tents on the divider. They were literally in the middle of the road.

It was  these streets, that bore witness to this massive destitution that my attention was caught by a limping horse, he had a broken hoof. It was completely displaced and tilted upwards. The horse was trying to cross the road assumingly look for grass to sustain.

This horse was limping, he was right there, he was in unbearable pain, and he had lost the ability to fend for himself. Nature had stuck him with its fury in a way that left him shelter less and he was right there on the road, he was in unbearable pain. His big eyes filled with sorrow and the black leather of his body covered with mud .The mud that that the soaring water of Jehlum had bought with it. The mud laden horse had lost its pride and its home. He was in the middle of the road, right in front of the eyes, but no one cared!

This pain of his broken hoof seemed in so many ways similar to the loss that Kashmiris felt. Thousands became shelter less overnight but their pain, their unbearable pain did not seem to bother the authorities at all. People, who clearly had lost the ability to fend for themselves, were left to their own fate. O, of course there came the magnificent relief truck, sorry A relief truck came, which threw biscuits on the road and people were left with no option but to fetch them. It does not take a genius to figure out what the share of the old, the weak and ill would have been.

Was it too much too expect that somebody from the authorities would put in efforts of making a line or keeping a local constable to check the crowd to ensure fair distribution ,as much as could be realistically expected. All that I could see in this place which had echoed the misfortune that fell on the valley ,was a relief camp board with a couple of empty chairs and a small tent set up by local volunteers who were trying their best but were clearly under equipped to do so.

I saw young boys fighting, physically pushing each other for a bottle of water, this was no playground tussle it was a battle for survival. But why did it have to come to this? Even if we keep aside the spoilt brat excuses on the lack and failure of rescue efforts from the state government machinery, why on earth did they lag behind so pathetically in the relief efforts? If it weren’t for the locals who took upon themselves the herculean task ofrelief, people who had somehow managed to swim, crawl, limp to safety with broken hopes from the trauma of seeing all they had being washed away ,would have starved to death. Many would have died because of the lack of life saving medicines.

The next day I requested a friend who was working as a volunteer to see whatever help could be provided to the people of this area .He identified around 10 tents and approximately 70 people, he and his friends tried to provide basic amenities to these people but there were so many more who were in an equally if not in a more dire state.

 

It wasn’t something that could have been managed by few volunteers, it required proper administration, and dare I say the assistance of the elected representatives. Hope kept coming in the form of local volunteers and help groups, sun’s heat dewatered some of the streets and lanes and things are better now.

But this is now, back then when there was urgent and pressing need to nurse the wounds and save the handicapped hopes; the people who should have come forward were completely oblivious.

 

Although I visit this place quite often, it seemed like a place I had never seen before. The marsh lands I saw every time used to be filled with tress and surrounded by houses, they now seemed like a deep water body that had claimed its place so well, it seemed to have owned it forever.

There were boats and the water accumulation, it did not appear to be just stagnated water, it seemed to have a life of its own, it was calm and I say with astonishment it seemed friendly like it wasn’t even remotely responsible for the loss of life, property, cattle and a sense of safety. Had this black steed not be standing there, in such agony, the wrath of the water that made him handicapped would have been impossible to fathom.

It seemed to be subtly mocking the inhabitants for the lack of empathy and lack of concern the people who were supposed to care had shown. It was making fun of how they had completely been abandoned. It put on a face, so serene that it made it almost impossible to believe that it was what is responsible for breaking the hoof!

 

 

Sheikh Meelad

 

People write for a variety of reasons. For some, it is a career; for others, a hobby. Some write because it helps them to sort out their feelings. Some have a story to tell. And some write because nothing in the world makes them happier.

Have you ever really thought about it? I don’t mean the surface reasons. I mean, what is it about writing that you love? What makes you shake off the disappointment of rejection letters and want to start again? Why are some of us so sure that we were meant to write and others avoid it like the plague?

Before talking about people, let me introduce my perspective towards writing. I write because my passion demands me so. The passion in my heart and soul need to come out, so writing is the only way that I can do this. Passion is what makes a writer. If you do not have passion for what you are doing, well, you won’t be able to write. I write because I want someone to feel something. I write from my experiences, hoping that someone might learn something, feel happy or even enjoy sadness.

Aside from the fact that writing is an inescapable part of everyday life, there are many good reasons you should make a good session of writing part of your daily routine, even if it’s just a few hundred words. You don’t have to be a pro to reap the benefits of creating the written word. Writing can have enormous positive benefits in your life and let me name some of them.

Writing can be therapeutic. It can be a way to vent all the pent-up frustrations burdening your mind into a far less volatile form, paper (or screen). You can address your anger, fear, worry and stress without bludgeoning the person who embodies those emotions for you with a paperweight.

Writing can serve as a form of cathartic stress relief where you finally get to say what you can’t say out loud, in real life. Just don’t let your vented feelings get into the wrong hands, or you may end up paying some pretty hefty blackmail cash. A daily writing habit gives you regular time to sweep your mind for forgotten tasks and ideas that have been fermenting in the back of your head without your knowledge. It allows you to take the unordered thoughts floating around your head like lost puppies in zero gravity, and turn them into ordered plans and actions.

Another benefit of writing every day is, even in a stream-of-consciousness, unedited format will maintain and gradually improve your writing skills, and since dealing with the written word is a fundamental part of daily modern life, there’s nothing bad about that.

Get away from the constant low-quality input and output systems of day-to-day life, such as meaningless small-talk and weather conversations, text messaging, Twitter, checking the mailbox, and most email and many websites. You receive and create barrages of useless distractions that don’t help you or the people you know; sitting down to write lets you get away from it all. It’s important to keep the noise to a minimum so you can focus on creating and receiving strong material, things that are really worth reading and writing.

Part of the reason so many people do not get what they want in life is because they do not know what they want from it. Certainly not the main reason that people don’t get what they want, but in so many cases it is the obstacle. How can you get what you want or achieve your dreams if you’re not 100% clear on what they are?

Writing each day gives you time to think carefully and reflect on what you want to achieve the most, and develop a clearer, achievable image and plan for that result.

In a fast-paced society it’s easy to forget things like what you believe in and what you’re doing this (whatever this may be) for. Letting words flow out of your brain unedited can introduce you to a part of yourself you’d been censoring from yourself to cope with everyday life. Why did you start down the path you’re currently on? This is an important question whether you consider your current path to have begun on the weekend, or a decade ago. Discontentment, disillusionment, and unhappiness often come from forgetting why we’re doing something (or, on a different track, not having a good reason for living a certain way) and it is important to keep those simple reasons at the forefront of your mind or you run the risk of letting your life become a series of boring, menial actions. It’s not only important to remind yourself of your motives for your current actions; it’s important to monitor your actions to see if they align with your life goals so that you can change them. Sometimes, the only way to keep such a close monitor on your actions and goals is to write about them every day.

One of the most instrumental changes in my life has been writing every single day. For many years I was a writer who didn’t write that regularly. It was always on the back of my mind to write, but I didn’t find the time. But now, I tend to write every day. I think for people like us (Kashmiris) who have suffered their share of traumatic experiences, Writing can help us carve those experiences into words. In this way, this could be something meaningful for our next generations to come. Do write, do it every day!

(The writer can be reached at Sheikhmeelad@gmail.com )