SSPs ask CM to dismiss ‘stone pelter Govt employees’

Under pressure from Police, Govt not to release detainees on Eid

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 13: Field officers in Jammu & Kashmir Police have urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to initiate process for termination of the services of Government employees who have been detained for their alleged involvement in the Valley’s separatist movement, particularly recent spell of street turbulence. Under pressure from Police, Government is understood to release none of the detainees around the festival of Eid-ul-Azha.

Highly placed government sources today revealed to Early Times that, around the forthcoming Eid, authorities were not going to release any of the people detained recently for their alleged involvement in stone pelting, mass mobilization for street demonstrations and clashes with Police/CRPF. Unspecified number of civilians---officials claim less than 400 and independent estimates put at around 1500---have been picked up and detained by Police in Valley in the last three months. Contrary to the tradition and common perception, “some more miscreants” are being arrested in the next three days, according to official sources.

Police and civil administration, according to these sources, have decided not to take any chances on the day of Eid on Nov 17^th and the Friday following on Nov 19^th. On both these days, congregational prayers are being organized at Eidgahs and mosques all over the Valley. The Government, according to these sources, has decided to permit all prayer assemblies but clergymen-cum-politicians like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, as also other prominent separatist activists, like Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan, would remain under house arrest. Geelani today announced that he would be performing his Eid prayers on Nov 17^th at Hazratbal.

Authorities are taking the “precautionary measures” in view of the turbulence on occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on September 11^th, when Mirwaiz led a rally of over 50,000 participants of the Eid prayers from Eidgah Grounds to Lalchowk and his followers not only caused massive damage to the lately recreated Clock Tower while hoisting Islamic and Pakistani flags but also set a major office complex on fire. Two days later, as many as 18 civilians died in clashes with Police and paramilitary forces, albeit over an incident of the desecration of Quran in USA. “Government will maintain order at any cost as nobody in the Valley has died in political clashes since September 6^th when five people got killed in Police firing at Palhalan. As many as 111 civilians have died in similar incidents since June 11^th but none in the last two months”, said a senior government functionary.

That the Government this time means business is evident from the fact that it has neither relented to release women like Asiya Andrabi nor allowed bail to succeed in PSA detention of men like advocate Mian Qayoom. Four particular separatist leaders---Geelani, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan---are understood to have been released after intervention of the Centre’s three interlocutors on Kashmir, Parliament Members of different political parties and some other track-2 activists.

Government is understood to have taken a tough stand in the matter of detention of trouble-makers after a number of SPs cautioned the Chief Minister through a teleconference on Nov 8^th that his “velvet glow” policy had every potential of leading to an Eid-ul-Fitr-type mayhem around Nov 17^th. District Police chiefs of Kupwara, Bandipore and Ganderbal specifically complained that respective District Magistrates had turned down all the dossiers of PSA detentions. DC of CM’s own constituency of Ganderbal has reportedly returned all the 10 dossiers and has been telling publicly that she had been “directed by honourable CM” not to detain anybody under PSA in her district.

SSPs and SPs have complained to Chief Minister that a large number of government employees had been found involved in stone pelting and other “anti-national political activities” but none of them had been ever dismissed from service in the last 17 years. Srinagar Police have registered FIR against a number of doctors at Government Medical College Srinagar over their “anti-India and pro-Pakistan rally” in July but none of the accused has been arrested, reportedly under orders of the Minister incharge Medical Education. It has been pointed out that among 946 persons, arrested in Srinagar alone, as many as 14 were regular employees of the state government and Police were still in search of 16 more who were absconding. Those arrested on account of their alleged participation in separatist demonstrations and stone pelting include two officials posted in Civil Secretariat.

Srinagar District Police claims to be in possession of “documentary evidence”, including video recording and photographs, to establish that the detained and wanted government employees had actively participated in stone pelting and separatist demonstrations this summer. Sources revealed that when SSP Srinagar, Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, stressed in the teleconference that “some more miscreants” would have to be picked up before Eid, Chief Minister gave him a positive nod and told him to make necessary planning in consultation with IGP Kashmir. According to these sources, three of the SPs made it clear to Chief Minister that the authorities’ battle for peace was not with Hurriyat and militants but actually with their supporters in other institutions, particularly the government employees.

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