After UJC’s statement, all and sundry in Kashmir condemn burning of schools

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_________

SRINAGAR, Oct 31: On Sunday a group of 28 Kashmiri intellectuals, most serving and retired academics, signed and issued a statement calling for deferment of the annual examinations for Class 10^th and Class 12^th besides all classes as, they argued, the students had failed to complete syllabus due to the 114-day-long street turbulence.

The statement cautioned senior PDP leader and Minister of Education Naeem Akhtar for building prestige and proceeding with his rigidity. It also asked Mehbooba Muti’s government to stop conducting raids by night for arresting the people allegedly involved in arranging protests or indulging in stone pelting. The statement, however, did not carry a word of condemnation or concern over the unidentified miscreants’ attacks on education in the Valley.

In all 26 government and private schools have been torched and destroyed fully while as attempted have been made to burn down five more schools. With an unsuccessful attempt on the Government Middle School at Nagbal, Ganderbal, on Monday evening, as many as 31 educational institutes have been targeted in the last 56 days.

Until Monday, few of the State’s representative political and social organisation and leaders had come forward with an unqualified condemnation of the burning spree. When the most secure and the best protected ruling parties, PDP and BJP, choose to remain silent, why should anyone expect the opposition parties to stick their neck out in support of the government?

Let alone contesting the separatists’ claims and narratives politically, Kashmir’s mainstream politicians — who have been rotating in opposition and power — have outclassed one another in appeasing the Hurriyat and other separatist groups and leaders. Most of the times, particularly when they are in opposition, the Valley’s mainstream politicians have echoed what the separatists have asserted day in and day out.

Deferment of the exams was initiated as a demand by the Hurriyat. One can reproduce it without any fear from the higher authorities. Hurriyat and other separatist groups have been daily issuing statement critical of the ‘nocturnal raids’ to arrest the youths. During the same period, when the attacks began mounting on schools and Education Minister was caught in the eye of a storm, a national daily exposed how a prominent leader’s granddaughter had continued her studies with DPS Srinagar without disturbance and how her internal exams had been conducted at Indoor Stadium, a CRPF company headquarters for over 25 years now.

The statement from intelligentsia steered clear of it all and did selectively project what the Hurriyat has been demanding. Some people across Pir Panjal mountain have dismissed it as ‘hypocrisy and intellectual bankruptcy’, though it is effortlessly understandable that nobody in the Valley’s hostile atmosphere can sail against the storm.

Like on many occasions in the past, it was none other than the guerrilla camp itself that pioneered condemning the burning of schools. United Jehad Council’s and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pakistan-based supremo Syed Salahuddin called the miscreants as “stooges of the government” who, according to him, were torching the educational institutes for the purpose of “defaming the freedom struggle”.

On Monday, Salahuddin’s statement was followed by almost all the mainstream and separatist outfits, each of them invariably condemning burning of the schools. This speaks volumes about the originality and straightforwardness of the Valley’s political, social, religious and intellectual leaders. Had they come forward and said what the UJC chief today said, they would have run a risk but definitely lived as hallowed leaders in the State’s political history.

END

[For STATE TIMES]

Pellet shellet na bhai na…..

Day after Yashwant Sinha’s meeting with Geelani, Centre asks forces in Kashmir to stop using pump action guns

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

________

SRINAGAR, Oct 28: Within a day of the senior BJP leader and former union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s ‘ice-breaking meeting’ with the Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatist leaders in Srinagar, Narendra Modi government in the Centre is understood to have directed Police and security forces to immediately stop using of the pump action gun, commonly known as pellet gun, in riot control regime in Kashmir valley.

On Friday, STATE TIMES learned from highly placed authoritative sources that the field officers of J&K Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been directed to communicate verbally to all the units that they should no more use pellet guns to combat the crowds of stone pelters. The direction, sources, said, flew in to Srinagar, in the afternoon on Friday.

The ‘verbal order’ to the forces has raised speculations that the Kashmiri separatist leaders have put up a host of demands to the Centre through Sinha-led “Trach-3 team” and stopping use of pellet guns is seen to be the first concession. Activist Sushoba Bhave, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and journalist Bharat Bhushan were among Sinha’s team that managed to meet with the prominent separatist leaders, including Geelani but excluding JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik in Srinagar in the two-day visit earlier this year.

An eminent educationist and a journalist, both viewed to be intimately close to the ruling coalition, are said to have facilitated a series of meetings between Sinha’s team and the Kashmiri separatists. Publicly, both Sinha as well as BJP have claimed that the group’s visit was in no way promoted by the BJP Government or party at the Centre. In his statement, Geelani has said that the meeting happened “in cordial atmosphere”.

Previously, under Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s direction, Government of India and Government of Jammu and Kashmir officers had formed a committee and recommended PAVA shells as an alternative to pellet gun. However, it came under severe public criticism when a number of civilians and protesters suffered grave medical complications and at least one civilian, Junaid Ahmad Mir of Nasrullahpora Budgam, died due to excessive gas inhalation. CRPF too complained against its introduction as alternative to pellet gun, claiming that the unruly crowds would pick up the shells and throw them back on the Police and paramilitary force.

Finally, the authorities counselled the Police and CRPF that they should use pump action guns “only in extremely hostile conditions”.

Sources believed to be knowledgeable claimed that the separatist leaders had agreed to entertain Sinha and his team on the condition that they would force the Centre to concede some of their demands like freezing the pellet guns, revoking cases and releases a sizable number of the detainees before expecting next meeting with the Hurriyat in Srinagar.

On Friday evening CRPF officers were heard communicating to the field units on VHF radio sets to immediately stop using pump action guns in the riot control. The ‘verbal orders from the top’ were broadcast even as a constable of 117 battalion’s ‘D’ Company, Sobin S, was critically hit in his eye when a crowd of 200 to 250 people attacked the CRPF deployment at Arizal in Budgam district.

Around 8,000 civilians and protesters are claimed to have sustained injuries in the 112-day riots in Kashmir. Of them, around 2,000 are said to have sustained minor or major pellet injuries. At least seven of the 90 persons killed in the same riots have reportedly died due to pellet injuries. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is on record to have committed that the forces’ men responsible for killing ATM guard Riyaz Ahmad Shah would be got punished by her government.

END

[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]

24 schools burned down in 53 days of Burhan turmoil in Kashmir

Kulgam tops with 6 of the 13 schools torched in PDP’s stronghold of South Kashmir

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_________

SRINAGAR, Oct 28: With hundreds of thousands of the students losing one full academic year due to the street turbulence, triggered off by the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter with security forces on July 8, as many as 24 educational institutions have been burned down in Kashmir valley in the last 53 days. The separatists-sponsored shutdown without a single day of relaxation completed 112 days on Friday.

Officials claim — and many of the people seem to be its takers — that all the 24 schools have been set on fire and destroyed by the people who have not allowed the educational institutions operate this summer. Even the BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and his ‘track-3 team’ returned to New Delhi disappointed on Friday as they failed to convince the turmoil’s prime driver Syed Ali Shah Geelani to relent and let the schools function.

“Geelani sahab told the delegation that if the authorities are really concerned and bothered about the education, they should release all people including students, withdraw the cases against them, stop police vigil, put an end to the barbarism, night raids and allow peaceful demonstrations which will help in creating a conducive and peaceful atmosphere. Exams can be deferred so that students can get time to prepare and prove their worth on their own. It should be followed by concrete measures to address the root…”, said a statement issued by the Hurriyat.

In his statement the other day, Geelani had claimed that the people burning down schools, damaging private vehicles and looting banks were “culprits, hand-in-glove with Police and forces”. Their motive, according to him, was to malign the Kashmiris’ separatist movement with anti-social acts.

On the other hand, Mehbooba Mufti’s government has been, of late, desperately trying to conduct the annual examinations of the Class 10 and 12 as also to protect the school buildings. Kulgam Deputy Commissioner’s controversial circular has directed the hapless teachers to keep 24/7 vigil so as to ensure that nobody sets a school on fire.

Maximum number of the schools, precisely 6, have been torched in Kulgam district that falls in the PDP’s stronghold of South Kashmir where 13 schools have been reduced to rubble. Even the first incident on September 6 took place in the same district when unidentified persons torched the building of JNU Public High School at Mirhama. Population-wise, Kulgam is almost equally split among the old ideological rivals, Jamaat-e-Islami and CPI (Marxist), besides the PDP.

After JNU, three more private schools were set on fire in Anantnag (Hanfia Higher Secondary School Anantnag on September 19 and Iqra Public School on October 28) and Srinagar (Noorul Huda Educational Institute Zewan: October 12). All the remaining 20 are government schools. In all, one Primary school, 13 Middle schools, 6 High schools and 4 Higher Secondary schools have been fully destroyed.

In addition to the fully devastated 24 schools, four government schools have suffered partial damage at Batagund Mawar Kupwara (September 28), Katrusa Kulgam (October 12), Kawoosa Khalsa Budgam (October 23) and Daderhama Ganderbal (October 28).

Official statistics accessed by STATE TIMES mention that 9 schools were torched in September but the trend is picking up at an alarming speed as 15 schools have been destroyed fully and 3 more partially in October till 28^th.

Of the 24 schools, 6 have been torched in Kulgam district, 5 in Anantnag, 3 in Baramulla, 2 each in Srinagar, Budgam and Shopian and one each in Ganderbal and Kupwara. Interestingly, the school dropout Burhan Wani’s own district of Pulwama is the only district in Kashmir where no educational institute has perished in fire during the turbulence.

Director School Education Kashmir Aijaz Ahmad Bhat said that the turmoil has affected all the 7,28,903 students upto Class 12 level in the Valley. “Four thousand students have suffered due to devastation of 22 students until yesterday. We have activated the watch and ward staff and asked them to keep a vigil under the supervision of concerned headmasters and Principals. We have suffered loss of Rs 5 crore and immediately we have no plans in hand for reconstruction of the gutted school buildings and accommodation of the students in private buildings”, Mr Bhat told STATE TIMES.

END

Schools torched in Kashmir during Burhan turmoil

Sep 06            JNU Public High School    Mirhama                               Kulgam

Sep 09            Govt Middle School             Chak-Sari, Pattan                Baramulla

Sep 10             Govt High School                 Botengo                                Anantnag

Sep 14             Govt Middle School              Kanjikullah                          Kulgam

Sep 19             Hanfia Higher Sec School  Anantnag                              Anantnag

Sep 19             Govt Middle School              Chattawattan, Vehil           Shopian

Sep 20            Govt Middle School               Rakh-e-Momin                    Anantnag

Sep 24             Govt Primary School            Theeru                                   Ganderbal

Sep 26             Govt High School                 Lilam, Vilgam                      Kupwara

Oct 09             Govt Middle School              Palpora, Pattan                    Baramulla

Oct 09             Govt Higher Sec School       Sumbal                                  Bandipore

Oct 12             Noorul Huda Edu Inst.         Zewan                                    Srinagar

Oct 15             Govt Middle School               Kachhdora                            Shopian

Oct 16             Govt High School                    Kanipora                              Kulgam

Oct 20             Govt Middle School               Watoo, DH Pora                 Kulgam

Oct 21              Govt Higher Sec School        Bogam                                   Kulgam

Oct 23             Govt High School                  Aripanthan, Beerwah         Budgam

Oct 24              Govt Middle School (Girls) Bonpora, Sadrkoot            Bandipore

Oct 24              Govt High School (Girls)     Goripora, Noorbagh          Srinagar

Oct 24               Govt Middle School              Samnoo, DH Pora             Kulgam

Oct 25               Govt Higher Sec School       Aeshmuqam                      Anantnag

Oct 27               Govt Middle School               Tappar, Pattan                   Baramulla

Oct 27               Govt Middle School               Habbar, Khag                     Budgam

Oct 28               Iqra Public School ((Mid.)   Batgung, Verinag               Anantnag
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Oct 30              Govt Higher Sec School         Kabamarg, Dyalgam         Anantnag

Schools partially damaged in fire

Sep 28                        Govt Middle School          Batgund, Mawar              Kupwara

Oct 02                        Govt Higher Sec School   Katrusa                               Kulgam

Oct 23                        Govt High School              Kawoosa Khalsa               Budgam

Oct 28                        Govt Middle School          Daderhama                       Ganderbal
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Oct 29                         Jawahar N Vidhalaya     Aeshmuqam                       Anantnag

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[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]

250 ambulances among 15,000 vehicles damaged in turmoil-2016

68 vehicles set on fire in 54 incidents; 24 in Srinagar alone

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

__________

SRINAGAR, Oct 25: While as the civilian shutdown vigilantes and security forces have torched as many as 68 vehicles in 54 incidents in the last 110 days of the street turbulence, around 250 ambulances of the State Health Department and other major hospitals have been damaged during the same period across Kashmir valley.

Director Health Services Kashmir Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman told STATE TIMES that as many as 190 ambulances of his department have been extensively damaged since July 8. He did not have figures of the official vehicles of District Hospitals, Public Health Centres besides the private vehicles of Chief Medical Officers, Medical Superintendents, doctors and other medical staff damaged in the mayhem. Conservative estimates put the number of such damaged vehicles as around 1,000.

Incharge Transport Department at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Deen Mohammad, said that 16 vehicles of the State’s only tertiary care hospital were damaged. These include 8 ambulances and equal number of buses. Such ambulances belonging to other hospitals including SKIMS Medical College and Hospital Bemina, SMHS Hospital and its associated hospitals — Bone & Joint Hospital, Lal Ded Hospital, Chest Disease Hospital etc. — are believed to be not less than 50.

Officials claim that around 10% of the ambulances and other vehicles of the Health Department and other government hospitals were damaged by Police and security forces and the rest 90% by the ‘protesters’ clashing with security forces or enforcing the separatists’ shutdown.

Most of the doctors and other medical and paramedical staff, who were beaten up or whose vehicles were torched or damaged in stone pelting, have not filed FIRs for fear of reprisals in an atmosphere of anarchy. They are believed to be in thousands.

According to the official tabulation accessed by STATE TIMES, maximum incidents of vehicle burning have taken place in the capital Srinagar district. SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar claimed that Police swung into action in each case. He said that when two Tata Sumo commercial vehicles were torched at Parimpora on October 17, entire cluster of the residents went into hiding though members of only two families were wanted.

The prime accused, Merajuddin Ganai alias Raju, was finally arrested by the Police on Tuesday. On Monday, DIG Central Kashmir, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, and SSP Amit Kumar said at a news conference that 15 miscreants involved in torching 13 vehicles had been arrested even as 7 of the accused were absconding. Of them, Ganai was arrested the very next day.

However, the official statistics available with this newspaper put the number of the incidents of vehicle burning in Srinagar district as 24.

Five each incidents of vehicle burning have been reported in Budgam, Anantnag and Baramulla districts, four each in Shopian and Pulwama, three in Kupwara, two in Kulgam and one each in Ganderbal and Bandipore.

The vehicles burned down, mostly by the shutdown vigilantes, include 30 motorcycles and scooters, 18 cars, 9 auto-rickshaws and Tata Sumo passenger carriages, 7 trucks, tippers, JCB earth excavators and big load-carriers besides 2 ambulances and 2 mobile bunkers of security forces. In all 7 of the destroyed vehicles belonged to Police Department, Police personnel and security forces. One escort vehicle attached to Health Minister Bali Bhagat was torched in Rajbagh area on August 10.

Month-wise, 17 incidents of the vehicle burning happened in July. In the first incident, people protesting Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter set on fire a mobile bumker of CRPF at Hassanpora in Anantnag district on July 8.While as 11 incidents occurred in August and 9 in September, as many as 17 incidents took place in 25 days of October.

Even as most of these vehicle were torched by the shutdown vigilantes in their attempts to spread fear and ensure that there was no violation of the separatists’ call, security forces and Police set on fire one motorcycle at Kakkar Hamam Baramulla on October 11 and as many as 15 motorcycles at Adijan Adda in Kulgam district on August 3.

Since most of the victims have not filed complaints with the Police, Srinagar daily Greater Kashmir has reported last week that 6000 to 7000 vehicles had been damaged in Srinagar alone. Officials insisted that no authentic statistics were readily available but many of them claimed that the number of vehicles extensively damaged in stone pelting and other incidents could be around 15,000.

END

[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]

Vehicles torched during unrest 2016

 District Budgam

S.        Date               Vehicle torched                Place                         By

01.      Aug 05             Scooty JK04C-8539           Khansahab                Miscreants   

Owner: Head Constable Gh Ahmad Lone s/o Gh Mohi uddin r/o Badran Magam

02.      Sep 29             JCB     -------                        Hardu Batpora         Miscreants

Bilal Ahmad Sofi s/o Ab Gaffar & Gh Rasool Sofi s/o Ab Ahad r/o Hardu Batpora

03.      Oct 06            Auto JKOIB-5159                Ompora                     Miscreants

Owner: Ghulam Ahmed Mir r/o Ompora, Budgam

04.    Oct 10             Swift  JK01AB-0103            Gooripora                  Miscreants

05.      Oct 10             Estilo JKo1N-6690             Gooripora                  Miscreants

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FULL LIST of ALL DISTRICTS WILL BE POSTED LATER TODAY

Govt gets tough over EJAC’s support to dismissed employees

EJAC chief placed under suspension, arrested with five trade union leaders, lodged in Kupwara jail

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

________

SRINAGAR, Oct 24: Perturbed over the support of Jammu and Kashmir Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) to the dozen-odd Government employees dismissed from service for “anti-national activities”, Mehbooba Mufti’s coalition government has suspended and detained a prominent trade union leader alongwith five other officials.

Apparently acting under the coalition partner BJP’s pressure, Chief Minister is understood to have given green signal to dismissal of 24 more government employees who figure in the list of 180 officials actively involved in the current street turbulence in the Valley. Last week, the State government began its drive with the dismissal of 9 employees. Three more employees were subsequently terminated by two administrative Secretaries.

According to well-placed authoritative sources, Ms Mufti’s government would terminate at least 12 more employees before the Durbar Move on October 27 followed by another dozen of them after opening of offices in November in Jammu.

The dismissals have evoked a deluge of negative reactions and criticism from almost all the mainstream and separatist opposition parties. However, as of them, over five hundred thousand State employees have not posed a substantial threat to the government. The Government did not lose any time in initiating action against the trade union leaders who, under the banner of EJAC, had called for revocation of the termination orders and announced to take to streets if the authorities failed to withdraw the orders.

As the EJAC leaders were assembling here for a meeting on Red Cross Road on Friday, six of them, alongwith seven junior officials, were taken into custody. EJAC President Abdul Qayoom Wani was immediately placed under suspension. Even as the seven junior officials were let off next day, Wani and two other trade union leaders were whisked away to Kupwara and lodged in a sub jail after Police secured remand for custody and detention of six employee leaders. Three more trade union leaders were lodged in sub jail Baramulla.

Wani’s suspension and detention of the six trade union leaders, including Wani, have served as a warning to thousands of the government employees who have, directly or indirectly, contributed to the mayhem for over three months. Sources in the top echelons of the coalition Government revealed to STATE NEWS that a number of the employees figuring among the shortlisted 36 officials could be terminated under section 226 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Rules and Regulations.

Until now, all the 12-odd employees have been dismissed on the charge of being threat to India’s “security, sovereignty and integrity [sections 126 (b)]”.

“Whereas on perusal of the dossier and other related documents, it transpires that the subject has been found involved in anti-national activities which include taking active part in causing disturbance and disorder to the public peace, intimidation to general public/ shopkeepers to observe shutdown amid calls given by separatists and instigating the youth to indulge in stone pelting…”, read the Government’s typical order.

Individual charges have been served on all the accused employees, denying them chance to defend themselves in a mandatory inquiry. Section 126 (b) of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, that has been invoked for outright dismissal of the employees, gives the competent authority in the Government powers to dispense with the mandatory departmental enquiry.

Authorities have noted that thousands of the State’s regular employees do not indulge in stone pelting or organising of the attacks on Police and security forces but they use their offices, telephones and internet connections for promoting Jehad and Kashmir’s separation from rest of India. The Government has been duly informed by CID of J&K Police about alleged activities of the dismissed employees. Sources said that the State government would write to the Centre that a number of its own officials were indulging in anti-national activities and subscribing to the unrelenting mayhem in Jammu and Kashmir.

BSNL, Project Beacon and some other departments and organisations of the Government of India have not initiated any action against the officials allegedly involved in stone pelting, slogan shouting, shutdown enforcement and other secessionist activities.

END

[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]

When Naeem Akhtar and 4 others were dismissed for being ‘threat to India’s security, sovereignty and integrity’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_______

SRINAGAR, Oct 21: With the volcanic eruption of armed insurgency, coupled with a separatist political movement, the administrative machinery was falling brick by brick January through March in 1990. Hundreds of thousands—and once a full million—of the Kashmiris used to march to the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan at Sonwar, demanding separation from India and implementation of the UN resolutions on Plebiscite.

Suddenly the separatist movement received a shot in the arm when senior IAS officers, including the stalwarts Hindal Haider Tayyabji, Ashok Jaitley, M.L, Kaul and Mohammad Shafi Pandit, signed and issued an appeal to the UN to intervene and stop human rights abuse by security forces in the Valley. Historic political developments took place when Vishwanath Pratap Singh was Prime Minister, Mufti Mohammad Union Home Minister and Jammu and Kashmir was under Governor’s, followed by President’s rule, in 1990. Many of Kashmir’s bureaucrats besides civil and Police officers became part and parcel of the secessionist movement.

Deputy Commissioner Excise Naeem Akhtar’s official residence at Government Quarter No: J-22 became the postal address of the movement as almost all the separatist politicians had been detained and lodged in different jails outside the Valley. Trade unions merged into a coordination committee which chose former Chief Engineer of Power Development Department Abdul Hamid Matoo as its President and Muzaffar Ahmad Khan as General Secretary.

Senior KAS officers like Muzaffar Ahmad Khan, then RTO Kashmir and General Manager with J&K Bank, Abdul Rashid Mubarki, additional Secretary Khizar Mohammad Wani and other prominent faces of the Kashmir Administrative Service came to be seen as the “real representatives of the Kashmir cause and sentiment”.

In months of the IAS officers’ memorandum, around 250 J&K officers, many of them between the ranks of Deputy Secretary to Commissioner-Secretary, issued another passionate appeal to the ‘Citizens of the World’. Believed to have been drafted by Akhtar in his Queen’s English, it called for Plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir under the UN resolution — euphemism for Kashmir’s secession from India and accession to Pakistan. The Kashmiris named it ‘Azadi’. It created ripples in India and abroad.

Governor Girish Chander Saxena declared five senior and influential officers — Abdul Hamid Matoo, Naeem Akhar, A.R. Mubarki, Abdul Salam Bhat and Muzaffar Ahmad Khan — as threat to the State’s security, sovereignty and integrity and ordered their dismissal from service. Within an hour, the dismissed officers and their colleagues, holding key positions in the Government, held a meeting at Akhtar’s official residence in Jawahar Nagar. The coordination committee called for an indefinite strike, making a host of demands. Not one was conceded by Saxena’s government.

The 72-day-long employees’ strike, that started on September 15, 1990, crippled the services in Kashmir. On behalf of Governor Saxena, Advisor (Home) Mehmood Ahmad Zaki (who later retired as GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps of Army) and Additional Chief Secretary Home Mehmood-ur-Rehman called on senior IAS officer Sheikh Ghulam Rasool (then Financial Commissioner Revenue, who was emerging as potential contender for the coveted position of Chief Secretary) and asked him to use his good offices to resolve the crisis.

There was no breakthrough till VP Singh’s regime ended and Chander Shekhar took over as Prime Minister on November 10. Governor Saxena and Chief Secretary R.K. Takkar did strongly refuse to revoke the five officers’ dismissal and their reinstatement.

President of the coordination committee Matoo had earlier played a key role in persuading the legendary Policeman and retired Director General of Police Ghulam Hassan Shah against accepting Jagmohan’s offer of appointment as Advisor to Governor. Shah did not join Jagmohan’s government even as the order of his appointment was reportedly issued after seeking his consent. Matoo’s daughter was married to Shah’s son.

One day in October, days before the annual Durbar Move, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool called over 50 officers to his Sonwar residence and urged them to bring home to Matoo, Naeem and others that shutting down entire services and systems could lead to miseries of the common people and poor employees, making it hard for them to sustain the agitation. Even the pharmacies and ration depots had not been exempted from the strike.

It was decided in the meeting that three officers — Ghulam Abbas (DC Srinagar), Aijaz Ahmad Malik (PCCF) and Ghulam Ahmad Lone (Law Secretary) — would meet the employees coordination committee members at Matoo’s residence near Al-Farooq Masjid in Jawahar Nagar.

On their return from Matoo’s house, the three senior officers narrated to Sheikh Ghulam Rasool that the coordination committee members were “extremely discourteous and rude”. “Sir, they treated us as traitors of the Kashmir cause and agents of the Government of India. They alleged that we are hobnobbing with Governor to fail the freedom struggle. Naeem said what nonsense of ration are you talking about. Kashmiris want freedom”, one of the them told Rasool.

“Sir we made it clear to them that Abbas Sahab is here in his personal capacity, not as DC Srinagar, so are two of us. We conveyed to them Zaki Sahab’s and Rehman Sahab’s assurance that they would be reinstated immediately after they call off the strike. But they didn’t relent. They addressed us as if they were the Governors and Chief Ministers and we were the class 4^th employees”, another officer told Rasool.

Commissioner Secretary ARI & Training Nazir Ahmad Kamili told Rasool that he and some other officers had also received threats on phone. “They posed as militants but we are sure they were our own colleagues trying to intimidate us”, Kamili said.

The matter didn’t end there. Matoo and his team in their speeches at Srinagar Municipality and other places alleged that some officers were out on the mission of failing the employees’ strike and the freedom struggle. Then only functional newspaper, late Mohammad Yousuf Qadri’s Afaaq, carried a story on such whispers. It was decided in Rasool’s meeting with the officers that three officers would go to editor of Afaaq and publish a statement about their failure to convince the coordination committee members on suspending the strike. “If all of them want to carry on, we will say that we too are with it”, said Sheikh and others.

A group of three officers was deputed to Qadri Sahab. They boarded the red-cross marked vehicle of Director Health Services and handed over their “clarification” to the editor’s son, Jeelani Qadiri, at his office near Abi Guzar. Jeelani agreed to publish but told the officers that he would need his father’s approval as it was a “sensitive matter”. Soon the trio arrived at the editor’s home in Balgarden.

Director Health Services Dr Muzaffar-uz-Zamaan Drabu, who lived in Karan Nagar neighbourhood, went in to meet Qadiri Sahab who obliged the officer. While he was still with Qadiri Sahab, some residents gathered around the vehicle and asked its driver about the officers meeting the editor. As he narrated everything with naiveté and honesty, the small group of residents began saying loudly that someone should make an announcement on the mosque’s PAS that the “traitors” were meeting Qadri Sahab. Someone was heard saying that they should set the vehicle on fire and beat up the “traitors”. Law Secretary Lone, who was inside the vehicle, turned pale.

However, as the motley gathering of the residents witnessed Dr Drabu emerging out of the editor’s home, they saluted him. He made it clear to them that none of the officers was working against the interests of the Kashmiris or the employees’ strike.

Immediately after VP Singh’s and Mufti Sayeed’s government at the Centre ended and Chander Shekhar took over as Prime Minister, senior National Conference leaders Dr Farooq Abdullah and Prof Saifuddin Soz persuaded him to withdraw the dismissal of the five Kashmiri officers as a “goodwill gesture”. They assured the new PM that it could initiate a process of resolving the crisis by understanding and dialogue. On November 26 the employees’ strike was called off as Saxena, on PM’s instruction, revoked the dismissal orders.

Among the reinstated officers and bureaucrats, Abdul Salam Bhat later functioned as DC in Udhampur and Srinagar, Muzaffar Khan headed several departments including Handicrafts and Estates before his retirement. Naeem Akhtar functioned as Secretary Tourism before holding a tenure as Secretary to Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed. For some time, when R.K. Jerath was on leave, Akhatr also held charge of the key portfolio of General Administration Department. Ultimately, in 2013 he became PDP’s Member in Legislative Council and in 2015 Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed inducted him as Minister of Education. He retained his berth and portfolio in Mehbooba Mufti’s Cabinet in 2016.

END

[Published in today's STATE TIMES]

Gazetted officers, Police officials in “anti-national list” spared from dismissal

BJP enthusiastic, PDP reluctant to praise Government’s decision; EJAC threatens to launch agitation if dismissal orders not revoked

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 20: Even as it was not immediately clear whether action was being initiated against any senior government employees allegedly involved in the current separatist strike, all the seven gazetted officers besides 6 Police officials in the list of 180 persons have been spared and their services have not been terminated by Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

With the eight administrative Secretaries having issued dismissal orders of 9 junior officials late on Tuesday night, two more employees are likely to be terminated on Friday. Commissioner-Secretary Finance Navin Chowdhary being in New Delhi, dismissal orders of the two employees of Finance Department could not be issued on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the top official sources, Government had approved a list of 11 employees for termination of services in the first phase.

According to these sources, 36 employees have been shortlisted for termination of service out of the 180 government officials who had been found involved in subscribing to the current separatist strike, now running in 15^th week.

Significantly, all the seven gazetted officers, mostly residents of Anantnag district and posted in South Kashmir, have been spared. They include an Assistant Registrar of the University of Kashmir, a Block Development Officer posted in Mattan, a Deputy Chief Education Officer lately shifted from Anantnag to Ramban district, an Accounts Officers of Finance Department, a Lecturer posted at Government Degree College Larnoo, a Lecturer of the Higher Education Department and an Assistant Engineer of PHE Department.

Even as one junior official of Fire and Emergency Services has been dismissed, all the six Police personnel — five of them posted in District Police Budgam — who had been indicted by CID for contributing to the agitation and enforcing the separatist-sponsored shutdown, have also been left out by the State Home Department.

Some official sources insist that the politicians of one ruling party besides senior officers and bureaucrats have intervened to rescue over 150 of the “anti-national” government employees.

While as most of the BJP leaders, including Minister of State in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, owned and appreciated the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s decision —unprecedented in the last 21 years —the coalition partner PDP looked somewhat reluctant to speak in the same tone and tenor. “Government officers and bureaucrats are expected to have applied their mind and thereafter taken such decision”, PDP leaders invariably told the journalists.

On the other hand, all the key Opposition parties were highly critical of the Government decision. Many of them urged the Government to be “magnanimous” and revoke the dismissal orders. Some of them even questioned the Government’s intentions and alleged that the dismissals had been done on the basis of “political vendetta”. They also pointed out that no departmental enquiry had been ordered and no opportunity had been provided to the accused before terminating their services.

Government itself chose to remain mute. No official release, clarification or reaction was issued to the statements from the mainstream and separatist opposition parties or trade union leaders. Privately, bureaucratic sources told STATE TIMES that no departmental enquiry was required as the action had been ordered under section 126-B of Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. They contended that the competent authority under law was “empowered to dismiss or remove a person or reduce him in rank” if he was satisfied that for some reason, to be recorded by that authority in writing, it is not reasonably practicable to hold such enquiry.

“Whereas, on perusal of the dossier and other related documents, it transpires that the subject has been found involved in anti-national activities which include taking active part in causing disturbance and disorder to the public peace, intimidation to general public/ shopkeepers to observe shutdown amid calls given by separatists and instigating the youth to indulge in stone pelting…” reads an order issued by Commissioner-Secretary Revenue Mohammad Ashraf Mir to terminate the services of one Ghulam Mohiuddin Khan, Patwari Halqa Laram Ganjipora in Anantnag.

Meanwhile, J&K Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) President Abdul Qayoom Wani dismissed the termination orders as dictatorial and threatened, in conversation with media, that the association of the state government employees would launch a strike if the Government chose not to revoke the termination orders.

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[Published in today’s STATE TIMES]