The Guardian - 08.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:27 Edition Date:190808 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 7/8/2019 20:17 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

Thursday 8 August 2019 The Guardian •

World^27

 Indian migrant

labourers in

Jammu prepare

to leave the

region yesterday

PHOTOGRAPH:

CHANNI ANAND/AP

Rebecca Ratcliff e Delhi
Associated Press Islamabad

Pakistan will expel the Indian
ambassador and suspend trade after
suggesting its regional rival could
carry out ethnic cleansing in Kash-
mir, in the wake of Delhi’s decision to
revoke the state’s special status and
divide it in two.
The decision to downgrade rela-
tions was made at a meeting of the
national security committee led by
the prime minister, Imran Khan, and
attended by the heads of the armed

forces and senior government offi cials.

Khan told the meeting his government

would use all diplomatic channels

“to expose the brutal Indian racist

regime” and human rights violations

in Kashmir.

He directed the armed forces to

remain on maximum alert and said

Pakistan would cut bilateral trade

and raise the issue of Kashmir with

the United Nations.

Indian-administered Kashmir

remains in the grip of an unprece-

dented communications blackout that

has cut phone and internet links. Cable

TV, initially suspended, is running

again but not showing any news pro-

grammes. The only source of news is

satellite TV, which fewer people have

access to.

People arriving at Delhi’s airport

from Kashmir described a state of lock-

down that has left those with medical

emergencies unable to call for ambu-

lances, families unable to contact one

another and the streets lined with

heavy security. “Every inch and cor-

ner is covered,” said Soayib Qureshi , a

Delhi-based lawyer. “You cannot even

go out of your house.”

In his neighbourhood, in Srinagar ,

Kashmir’s biggest city, small protests

Kashmir and has fought two wars with

India over the territory, with the coun-

try’s army chief vowing to “go to any

extent” to stand by Kashmiris.

Indian-administered Kashmir has

held special status since 1954, giving

it a degree of autonomy, including

its own constitution as well as rules

that prevent people from outside the

state buying land in the territory. Many

Kashmiris believe this is crucial to pro-

tecting the demography and traditions

of India’s only Muslim-majority state.

The Indian government’s move was

condemned by the International Com-

mission of Jurists , which accused it

of violating rights guaranteed under

the Indian constitution and interna-

tional law.

Sam Zarifi , the ICJ’s secretary gen-

eral, said Delhi’s announcement had

been accompanied by “draconian new

restrictions on freedom of expres-

sion, assembly and travel, and with

an infl ux of thousands of unaccount-

able security personnel”.

In Pakistan’s parliament on Tues-

day, Khan said he would raise the

issue with the UN, adding: “I am afraid

that [India] will now carry out ethnic

cleansing in Kashmir. They will try to

remove the local people and bring in

others and make them a majority, so

that the locals become nothing but

slaves.”

Analysts point out trade between

the two countries is relatively small

and that it was unlikely the UN would

take any action. “The diplomatic

statements on their own mean really

nothing,” said Raja Mohan, the direc-

tor of the Institute of South Asian

Studies, at the National University of

Singapore. “It’s really what happens

on the ground that will be far more

consequential.

“It will begin to matter if there is

violence in Kashmir, and Delhi sees

some of it as coming from Pakistan,

and then you’re back in the Pulwama

sort of situation [where dozens of

Indian paramilitaries were killed in

a suicide car bombing]. Does India

respond? If India responds, will there

be escalation?”

Australian high court dismisses

Twitter freedom of speech case

Paul Karp

The high court in Australia has
unanimously upheld a decision to sack
a public servant for anonymous social
media posts that criticised the govern-
ment’s immigration policy.
The court delivered its judgment
in the landmark freedom of speech
test case yesterday, upholding an

appeal by the workers’ compensa-

tion agency, Comcare, which argued

it was reasonable for the immigration

department to sack Michaela Banerji.

The case has implications for two

million public servants, as the court

declined to use the constitutional

implied freedom of communication to

rule that the sacking was unreasonable.

Banerji was dismissed for breaching

the public service code of conduct

• which requires public servants
  to be apolitical “at all times” – for
  anonymous tweets from her LaLegale
  Twitter account.
  She won a workers’ compensa-
  tion case when the administrative
  appeals tribunal found her dismissal

breached the implied freedom of

communication.

But in a majority judgment yester-

day, the chief justice, Susan Kiefel , and

three other judges overturned that

decision, noting the implied freedom

“is not a personal right of free speech”.

They said there was an “obvious” risk

that “so-called anonymous tweets”

could damage the public service.

In separate judgments two other

justices acknowledged the burden

imposed by the public sector gag but

agreed that it was “reasonably neces-

sary and adequately balanced”, given

the legitimate purpose of ensuring an

apolitical public service.

Outside the court, Banerji said she

Angry Pakistan

throws out Indian

ambassador over

Kashmir dispute

had taken legal action “to affi rm the

role of ... freedom of speech for public

servants, and we failed”.

Her lawyer, Allan Anforth, said the

case could have implications beyond

public sector employment. “The

implication is that for any employee-

employer relationship, if the employee

is critical of the employer’s position on

some politically relevant social issue,

they can be sacked,” he said.

Greg Barns, for the Australian Law-

yers Alliance, said the case “shows that

Australians lack fundamental protec-

tions such as freedom of speech”.

“The lack of a national human rights

charter means government can shut

down dissent far too easily,” he said.

‘The diplomatic

statements mean

nothing ... it’s what

happens on the

ground that matters’

Raja Mohan

Institute of South Asian Studies

▼ Indian paramilitary soldiers on

patrol during the curfew in Srinagar,

amid reports the state is in lockdown

PHOTOGRAPH: FAROOQ KHAN/EPA

of 40-50 people were taking place

when the curfew was relaxed after

10pm. He said he believed he had

heard teargas being used on Monday

and Tuesday, but said the suspension

of all communications meant people

ha d little idea what was happening.

The Indian government announced

on Monday that it would dramatically

change its relationship with the state,

revoking the special status granted in

exchange for joining the Indian union

after independence in 1947. It also said

it would divide the state in two.

The move has sparked fi erce rhet-

oric from Pakistan, which also claims

▲ Michaela Banerji, a civil servant,

criticised immigration policy

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