Separatists and mainstream leaders on Wednesday condemned the Jammu and Kashmir government move to curtail its employees’ activities on social media through new rules circulated on Tuesday.
National Conference spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu said the PDP-BJP government was “portraying hundreds of hardworking government employees of the state as terrorists and anti-social elements to cover its own utter and complete failures on both governance and the political front.”
The J&K government on Tuesday directed its employees “not to use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure.” The rules bar them from adding unknown or anti-social accounts as friends. Any violation will attract punishment, ranging from termination to withholding of increment.
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The Congress asked for the withdrawal of the directives. “Barring employees to use social media is a direct attack on the freedom of expression and freedom of speech, which is very unfortunate and deserves strong condemnation,” said a Congress spokesman.
CPI(M) leader M.Y. Tarigami said the circular reflected the “regressive mindset of the BJP-PDP government”.
Separatists also attacked the government for the move. “The ban imposed on employees and their family members from expressing their opinion is despotic. It reflects nervousness and desperation to suppress the truth about Kashmir and the aspirations of its people,” said All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
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JKLF chief Yasin Malik called the move “a direct attack on the freedom of speech”. “The fascist regime in J&K is setting new records of authoritarianism in the name of democracy,” said Mr. Malik.