The J&K Apni Party (JKAP) and the Peoples Conference (PC) on Saturday sought the intervention of Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha in revoking the recent order to create a Special Task Force (STF) to terminate the services of government employees indulging in “anti-national activities”.
JKAP State secretary Muntazir Mohi-ud-Din said the order was arbitrary and unjustifiable, “in which any government employee can be dismissed without proper enquiry”.
“Such decisions create a feeling of alienation among government employees who otherwise deliver their public services in a diligent manner. Such unwanted decisions shall prove counterproductive as government employees are the backbone of any public administration,” Mr. Mohi-ud-Din said.
He said that the J&K government “must avoid introducing such controversial laws”.
“L-G Sinha should review the draconian law and direct the competent authorities to quash this law at an earliest,” he said.
PC leader Mohammad Khurshid Alam also expressed concern over the order. “Government employment is a basic source of livelihood for the majority of people in J&K. Such orders will only snatch away such basic facilities from the conflict-torn masses. In the past, there have been numerous instances when action was taken against employees violating service rules. The decision to create a task force and terminate a government employee without an inquiry looks frighteningly draconian and shocking,” he said.
He said the move leaves any accused with “no say, no representation and no podium” to defend himself or herself. “Such orders only belittle the institutions of justice and fair play. Such actions would also create new faultlines between the government and the people, and will turn the situation worrisome with each passing day,” Mr. Alam said.
He, too, demanded the immediate rollback of the order. “I appeal to L-G Sinha to revoke the order so that the confidence of employees could be regained afresh and new bonds of trust and harmony could be achieved for J&K’s overfall prosperity and development,” he added.
The J&K government on April 21 constituted an STF to scrutinise government employees and lodge cases against those involved anti-national activities or cases that pose a threat to national security.
