On Monday, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti wrote to J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah requesting him to form a committee to review the cases of government employees who were summarily dismissed from their services. During the past few years, many employees have been dismissed for their links with separatists and secessionists under Article 311 of the Constitution.
This article empowers the government to dismiss such employees without giving details of the reasons for the action. Anees ul Islam, grandson of late separatist leader SAS Geelani, who was appointed to a senior government post through backdoor during Mehbooba’s tenure as CM. According to most reports, Mehbooba’s aide and now a party MLA, Waheed Para, had facilitated this appointment.
Two sons of banned terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)’s chief Syed Salahuddin were among the employees dismissed under Article 311 in November 2021. Syed Ahmed Shakeel and Shahid Yusuf were among a bunch of 11 J&K government employees whose services were terminated for “anti-national activities”.
Another well-known case of such dismissals is that of Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan, a Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officer, wife of terrorist Farooq Ahmad Dar (alias Bitta Karate) who is behind bars.
Bitta Karate became a household name in Kashmir, and all over India, after he admitted on record in an interview to Manoj Raghuvanshi of having killed many Kashmiri Pandits (KPs). Mehbooba said he hoped that CM Omar will take a humanitarian view to alleviate the sufferings of these families.
She also said that dozens of employees have been dismissed since 2019 after scrapping of Article 370 for allegedly taking part in anti-national activities in this manner. Such cases of summary dismissals should be reviewed and scrutinised by the proposed committee, she said.
Not only review, the committee should also provide financial assistance of the families of the dismissed employees, Mufti wrote in her letter. To give it wide publicity, she has also posted it on her.
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