A photo of a Jammu and Kashmir government employee's hand being stamped and signed by a District Magistrate to allow him to travel to his office on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has evoked widespread condemnation on social media. Netizens are even terming the government order as inhumane and derogatory.
Some politicians and activists even compared the J&K administration's directive with that of the Adolf Hitler regime in Germany when Jews were not allowed to use public roads. Former IAS topper-turned-politician Shah Faesal described the order as a violation of the constitutional right to movement.
On Wednesday, when the government directive of prohibiting civilian vehicular movement on the 290km-long highway that connects various districts of Kashmir with Jammu came in force, routine life came to a standstill with many office-goers, school students and businessmen facing tough times to travel and reach their destinations.
The J&K administration led by Governor Satya Pal Malik had on Tuesday issued an amendment to the order exempting lawyers and medical emergencies. The order issued by the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan, said that lawyers and medical emergencies shall be exempted from the order and their identity cards/ prescriptions would be treated as passes.
Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party and Shah Faesal-led J&K Peoples Movement have filed separate Public Interest Litigations in the J&K High Court to seek a revocation of the ban.
