Many terminated employees are planning to challenge the move in a court of law.
Srinagar: Dismissal from services of nearly 12 government employees by the administration in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has created panic among the former. The action has been taken by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha under Article 311 (2)(c). In the latest development, a Dy SP rank officer of Jammu and Kashmir Police and two teachers were terminated from service by the administration on Friday. The fresh dismissals have evoked resentment among employees, separatists as well as the mainstream political parties.
The L-G administration had formed a task force in April this year under the said section which bypasses the requirement of formal inquiry against any employees of the erstwhile state found indulging in dissention or alleged anti-national activities. Singh was arrested along with two Hizbul Mujahideen operatives by the same force he worked for while travelling to Jammu. The case was later taken over by the NIA.
While the dismissals by the L-G administration in the middle of the pandemic has drawn flak from the employees’ unions, the political parties, too, are not happy with the latest developments.
Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had taken to Twitter to show her resentment when a government teacher was dismissed from service “in the interest of security”. She said that the government should have focused on saving the lives of people instead of firing government employees on flimsy grounds.
Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who heads the moderate faction of Huriyat Conference, termed the dismissals “inhuman and cruel” to render people jobless in such a manner at this time by invoking a draconian law. The National Conference has already called for the end of the Special Task Force which is headed by the Intelligence Chief of the UT.
The employees are under constant watch of the intelligence agencies by the cyber police also and this being the reason that many of them have been reprimanded for their posts on social media for showing dissent against state policies and actions. The General Administration Department has issued many directions from time to time, asking employees to refrain from indulging in such activities.
While Dy SP Rana and two teachers dismissed on Friday have been found directly involved in alleged “anti-national activities” by the investigating agencies, others were found to be extended tacit support to the separatists and terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir. On 4 May, a teacher of Kupwara, a Naib Tehsildar of Pulwama and an Assistant Professor from Udhampur were dismissed from services under the same Act.
The Jammu Kashmir Employees Action Committee (EJAC) has protested the termination of the employees, demanding that the reasons for termination be made public and the employees be given a chance to explain their positions. The Committee claimed that the decisions were taken in haste without the employees being given a chance to clear doubts about them. Meanwhile, many terminated employees are planning to challenge the decisions in a court of law.