South Asia Human Rights Journalist Association

Srinagar, July 9, 2014 : In Srinagar, the authorities banned a lecture by a internationally acclaimed author, researcher and scholar, a US-based academician Prof Mridu Ray, which she was supposed to deliver in Grand Mumtaz hotel on Moulana Azad Road in Srinagar.  Pro Mridu Ray was scheduled to speak as part of an annual lecture series on Pandit Rughonath Vaishnavi, a pro-aazaadi Kashmiri Pandit lawyer of the 20th century. Her lecture was entitled “Languages of Violence, Languages of Justice: the State and Insurgent Kashmir”.
Prof Mridu Roy who was scheduled to deliver a lecture on "Languages of Violence, Languages of Justice: the State and Insurgent Kashmir" an annual talk organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) to pay a tribute to late Pt Rughonath Vaishnavi, a well known Kashmiri Pandit politician and an ardent supporter of Kashmir’s freedom struggle.
The author of the book, “Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects”, Prof Mridu Rai while addressing a press conference at a public park in Srinagar has termed the ban on her lecture as appalling, adding that , “If the government considers a talk by an academician like her as dangerous, then the state is in for a trouble. My voice is being silenced. It is ridiculous.” Roy further said that the greatest violence can be done is to silence people. “The state is in a great trouble as it doesn’t allow us to speak,” she said adding that “But I will speak.”
Convener of JKCCS and a human rights activist, Khuram Parvez told media men that at the last moment government had threatened action against Hotel Grand Mumtaz, if they allowed the Pt Rughonath Vaishnavi Annual Talk, which was scheduled to be delivered by Prof Mridu Rai.
“The hotel management informed us that police threatened them that action will be against Hotel Grand Mumtaz, if they allowed the event to take place”, said Parvez.
He said, “under the law, there is no requirement for any permission for holding such an event at a private hotel,” and added: “This ban is consistent with the government’s policy of disallowing academic, cultural and political activity in Kashmir. We regret the disappointment the ban has caused the organizers as well as many of you who planned to join the event.”
JKCCS held a press conference outside its office near Amirakadal where scores of students, researchers, academicians, journalists and civil society members were present.
Addressing the media persons Roy said, “My voice is being silenced. It is ridiculous.”
Sources said police last night went to the hotel and asked the authorities to scrap the event, organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and other groups. They even threatened to seal the hotel if the lecture was held, a JKCCS member claimed.
“The premises where the lecture was scheduled to be delivered was shut. We were politely informed by the management about the police threat of action if the event was held,” an organiser said.  “The police had even invoked Section 144 (which bans assembly of four or more) in the area.”
“I will never be silent,” Rai told the audience. “An academic lecture does not fall under Section 144... this is appalling that my voice was silenced... it was to be a simple conversation with the people.”
Khurram Parvez, the co-ordinator of the JKCCS, said it had become routine with the authority to stifle the voice of intellectuals.
“This ban is consistent with the government’s policy of disallowing academic, cultural and political activity in Jammu and Kashmir. The state has consistently sought to choke all political spaces of dissent,” he claimed.
“They did it earlier with another academic, Angana Chatterjee. Her husband (Richard Shapiro, an American) was not even allowed to enter India.”
The US-based Chatterjee, then associated with the California Institute of Integral Studies, was scheduled to lecture in Kashmir sometime after the 2010 agitation. The lecture was ultimately called off, Parvez said.
Switching to today’s lecture, Parvez said the JKCCS had booked the hotel 15 days ago and all arrangements had been finalised.
A police officer said the JKCCS did not have the required permission to hold the event. But he refused to divulge at whose behest the police had barred the hotel from hosting the lecture.
Parvez said permission was not required under law to host an event at a private venue. 
Human Rights lawyer and member of JKCCS, Parvez Imroz  said that they have booked the hotel some 20 days ago and were informed by the Hotel  Management late Tuesday evening that they have got police threats.
The JKCCS Convener said that the annual talk was a tribute to one of Kashmir’s unsung heroes, Pt Rughonath Vaishnavi, who had fought for the Kashmir cause and was jailed seven times for his commitment to the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
Meanwhile, social media users condemned and flayed the government for banning the Pt Rughonath Vaishnavi Annual Talk. “Crazy politics! Crazy democracy! Sadly impacts massively and negatively on the lives of the oppressed, poor and innocent...Always,” a Facebook user writes in reaction to the ban.