Jammu and Kashmir parties, including the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Hurriyat, on Monday described the termination of 11 government employees, including two sons of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddion , under Article 311, as “arbitrary and unjust”. Salahuddion’s sons were working at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences and the Skill Development Wing.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said at a press conference in the Chenab valley, “It’s inexplicable to punish sons for the deeds of the father. Any report is not a final judgment. Let the facts be brought to the public domain. Over 20 employees have been fired this year. We already have opposed these unjust terminations”.
The dismissal on “flimsy grounds” was criminal. “The Government of India continues to disempower people of J&K in the garb of pseudo nationalism, by trampling the constitution that ought to be upheld,” the former Chief Minister said. “One can capture a man but not an idea. You have to address the idea,” she stated.
‘Case of arbitrariness’
NC spokesman Imran Nabi Dar termed the termination of employees a “measure blind to justice and arbitrary in nature”. He said, “The measure is a prima facie case of arbitrariness, where a non-judicial entity is establishing the guilt of the accused party without giving the accused a fair chance to contest the charges. After decades, the employees are being shown the door regardless of their length of service and the impact on their families. The accused employees should be allowed to knock on the doors of courts”.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz , while calling the dismissal as “arbitrary and illegal”, observed, “This illegal action will not stand the test before any court of law. The government has violated the basic legal requirement of not giving the dismissed employees a chance to explain their position.” The Lt. Governor’s administration had closed the doors to any conciliation and reconciliation with the Kashmiri employees. “This illegal action will necessarily deepen the political unrest in J&K,” he asserted.
Mirwaiz’s charge
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed dismay over the employees’ dismissal. He stated, “These removals are whimsical in manner, contrary to all norms of justice and fairness and issued under the guise of being a ‘threat to the security of the state’. Those dismissed are even mostly unaware of the exact nature of the charges against them”.
Post August 2019, new laws were introduced to “deprive the people of J&K of employment opportunities in their own land”, he said. “The government should revoke this authoritarian order or give those dismissed a fair chance to challenge the charges,” he added.
The 11 employees were terminated from service last week under sub clauses of Article 311, which does not require any departmental inquiry. The terminations were made “in the interest of the security of the State”.
The Uniion Territory government on April 21 this year constituted a special task force to identify and scrutinise the government employees, and lodge cases against those involved in any cases related to posing threat to the country’s security or are involved in any anti-national activities.
