Govt terminates services of three more employees for ‘terror links’
16/02/2025
SRINAGAR, Feb 15: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday terminated the services of three government employees including a policeman, for alleged terror links, officials said.
They said the employees terminated included Firdous Ahmad Bhat, a police constable; Mohammad Ashraf Bhat a school teacher and Nisar Ahmad Khan an orderly in the Forest Department.
The trio were terminated under proviso (c) of sub-section of Article 311 of the Constitution of India. The Article empowers the government to dismiss employees without seeking an explanation or conducting an inquiry into their conduct.
This is the second instance of such dismissals since Omar Abdullah assumed office as Chief Minister. However, Abdullah's government has no role in these terminations as the law and order comes directly under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Over the past four years, more than 75 government employees in J&K have been dismissed under Article 311(2)(C), with the latest action reflecting the government's stringent stance on ensuring state security.
Reacting to the latest terminations, CM Abdullah said that every accused is innocent until anything is proven.
He said such steps are taken without hearing the dismissed employees.
" The law says that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty," Abdullah said.
Former Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti hit out at the government over the latest dismissals, saying the people had pinned hopes on the popular government expecting such actions will come to an end.
"Arbitrary & summary dismissals of government employees have become a daily occurrence since 2019. What is perhaps most surprising & puzzling is that it continues unabated despite an elected government in power that had promised to put an end to such practices once in office. People had pinned their hopes on the new government expecting at least some relief through vigorous advocacy of these issues with the LG," she said in a post on X.
Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq termed the dismissals as highly condemnable.
"The termination of three more state employees in such an authoritarian manner is highly condemnable. Do the rulers want to remove all Kashmiri's slowly and steadily from government services and render them jobless? It is the duty of the elected representatives to take up this issue urgently with the concerned as they have committed in their manifesto, and stop this harassment," Mirwaiz said in a post on X.
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