Srinagar: The main opposition party in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday said it would strongly oppose the passage of the proposed Police Bill in its present form, saying many provisions in it were "undemocratic and anti-people".
"People’s Democratic Party would strongly oppose passage of J-K Police Bill in the present form," party president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement here.
Mufti said police in the state needed drastic reforms but many provisions in the Bill were "undemocratic and anti-people".
"If this Bill is allowed to pass in its present form, we will have an Ikhwani state in which the thanedar (inspector) and not the democratic institutions or the elected representatives will set the rules of the society," she alleged.
She claimed that the proposal to create special security zones and legalisation of Village Defence Committees which could be administered according to the discretion of the police through SPOs would prove to be dangerous.
Mufti said the draft legislation has all the criteria of a "systematic undermining of democracy".
The Bill provided for arrest of a person in case of non-rendering of assistance to a police officer, which was "repressive", Mufti said.
"The objective of any new law should be to make it more accountable to democratic institutions, people-friendly and socially-oriented. The proposed law unfortunately negates any such purpose," she said.
PTI
