The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Friday criticised the Jammu & Kashmir administration’s move to
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“Contrary to the Government of India’s tall claims of getting investment to create employment, they are deliberately laying off government employees despite knowing that people in J&K rely on government jobs for their livelihood,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said.
“Hounding Kashmiris endlessly deflates their [the Centre’s] fake narrative that all is well in J&K,” she said. “‘Links to militants’ is the new excuse used to dispossess and humiliate Kashmiris,” she added.
NC spokesperson Mudassir Shahmiri described the dismissals as orders that “smack of injustice and vengeance”.
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“The action should not be seen in isolation. Such terminations on one pretext or another are part of a larger design to purge people of J&K from the government services to achieve the much-anticipated extinction of locals from the administration,” Mr. Shahmiri said.
He said such measures had weaned off scores of families from their humble source of income. “It is not an individual who is at the receiving end. It’s the scores of families who have borne the brunt of this reckless decision,” he added.
The NC said the orders left no scope for the affected parties to challenge the action in a court of law. “Executive decisions can in no case be substituted by the judiciary. The implications of such measures also come at a huge cost of disturbing work ambience in government departments and consequently affecting the output as well,” Mr. Shahmiri said.
The J&K administration on September 22 sacked six government employees for “posing threat to State’s security” under the amended Article 311(2)(c), which requires no departmental inquiry except for a police or an official report. The sacked employees included two teachers and two policemen.
Around 20 employees, including two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, have been sacked so far under the amended rule.