Don’t penalize helpless citizens: Activist to TS police, govt

Hyderabad: Activists from the city wrote to the state chief secretary and director of police requesting to issue manual passes during the lockdown and to provide support instead of penalizing helpless citizens for coming out to find a day’s sustenance.

S.Q. Maqsood, the social activist who wrote the letter, spoke to Siasat.com and said that if action is not taken they will move to the high court with a public interest litigation (PIL). 

In the letter S.Q Maqsood raised concerns over the problems faced by people in obtaining electronic passes. 
“Not everyone is able to access this website to obtain a pass without Aadhaar. It has been established in the hon’ble SC Puttaswamy vs Union of India, judgement that aadhaar cannot be made mandatory, yet the police demand it,” he wrote in the letter. 

Speaking to Siasa.com he said that it is also hard for people from working classes who may not know English to obtain passes even if they have an internet connection. He added that most people in Telangana prefer Urdu and Telugu. 
“The police is detaining anyone without a pass while making it harder with restrictions like aadhar, uploading proof, KYC and photo in pdf format to obtain a pass,” Maqsood said. 

He appealed to the police to issue manual passes at police stations and GHMC ward level or through telephone helplines like 100. 

Maqsood also highlighted how challans being senselessly being issued around have become a rope around common people’s necks. “The working class is out on the street to earn a day’s wages to feed themselves,” he said. Maqsood suggested that they need door to door welfare to stay home and not venture out. 

“People are being penalized while not being provided any support from the government,” he said.