From J&K | Locked Away

A FORCE Report | Srinagar

Advocate Umair Ronga has made repeated appeals for the release of his father, senior lawyer and former High Court Bar Association (HCBA) president Nazir Ahmad Ronga, who is currently in detention. Umair frequently takes to social media, urging the government to release his 75-year-old father.

‘My father, Advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga, has now completed 132 days in detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA). His detention was based on unwarranted and inaccurate information provided to the authorities, forming the basis of a flawed dossier. At 75, with multiple health issues, my father’s prolonged detention has taken a severe toll on his well-being,’ reads Umair’s latest Facebook post.

‘I earnestly request the concerned authorities to review his case with the fairness it deserves. The PSA imposed on him is unjustified, and I urge for his immediate release to ensure his health and dignity are preserved. This continued detention not only affects him but also brings undue strain to our family and the broader legal community he has served with dedication for decades,’ he adds.

On July 11 this year, Ronga was arrested from his Srinagar residence and booked under the Public Safety Act. Even at that time Umair took to the social media, writing that, ‘My father, Adv. N.A. Ronga, the Chairman of the J&K High Court Bar Association, has just been arrested in a deeply disturbing turn of events.’

‘At 1.10 am, a contingent of J&K Police arrived at our home without any arrest warrant, merely stating, “It’s an order from above” (uper se order hai). We are left in a state of shock and profound distress. We can only hope this is not another instance of the PSA being misused to intimidate the members of the J&K High Court Bar Association,’ Umair Ronga said.

Ronga was earlier arrested in August 2019 and booked under PSA ahead of abrogation of Article 370.

Ronga’s detention came just days after the administration banned the HCBA election, originally scheduled for July 1, citing unspecified concerns over a potential ‘breach of peace.’ Many lawyers view the ban and the ongoing crackdown on HCBA office-bearers as part of a broader effort to undermine the organisation, which has long advocated for the ‘peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.’

In its June 25 ban order, the Srinagar district administration also questioned the HCBA’s legitimacy as a legal entity under the Advocates Act of 1961. The order referenced a letter from the Kashmir Advocates Association (KAA), a rival lawyers’ group, which accused the HCBA of promoting a ‘secessionist ideology’ in Jammu and Kashmir.

His Public Safety Act dossier reads, ‘Whereas, you being a staunch anti-national element and you cannot see peace returning In UT of J8K. As such you are always in search of opportunity to mobilize the ways and means having bearing on security of UT of J&K. AS such you have been found to have secretly devised programs for creating large scale violence which in all possibilities wilk have bearing on the security of UT,’ the dossier reads.

The dossier says there are compelling reasons to believe that, ‘If allowed to remain at lar