Good Job
It is a fact that the previous governments in J&K, in order to keep their vote banks
heavy, showed alignment with terrorists by offering their kin important jobs. But the present LG administration has gone ahead and taken steps to destroy that kind of buttress.
Mian Tufail
TERRORISM in India has been mostly synonymous with the terrorism in Jammu Kashmir. The erstwhile state of J&K has, for a long time, remained infamous for directly or indirectly favouring terrorists. After the abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A), J&K was downgraded to the status of Union Territory, brought under direct control of the Home Ministry to handle the security apparatus better. And since then, a major leap has been achieved in containing armed terrorism and the infamous street dogfights. Most political parties in the erstwhile State had reached the zenith of power by remaining soft towards terrorism. Although, their workers on ground faced terrorist attacks and brutalities, the parties ignored their sacrifices to safeguard their berths to rule the State. Recently, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, commenting on the JKSSB-APTECH controversy, shut up opposition parties in a veiled dig, stating that those who provided ‘jobs to terrorists’ in Jammu & Kashmir, should not lecture on the present dispensation about fairness and transparency in the government examinations.
A sad reality
The LG’s statement has, yet again, raked up the issue as to how the former rulers in Jammu & Kashmir favoured terrorists and their kin, over the common people, when it came to providing jobs. Politicians, by showing allegiance to terrorists in the past – just to gain a handful of votes – made a mockery of the merit system in J&K. There are political parties that emerged under the garb of green posters to prove their allegiance to Pakistan and fooled the innocent Kashmiris just to enjoy political power and chief-ministerships.
But the times have changed now. Mainstream parties have been side-lined to clear the security mess in J&K. Today, terrorist activities have reached their fag end. People have heaved a sigh of relief to witness the bloom and tulips of the new Jammu & Kashmir.
Not a mere accusation
LG Manoj Sinha’s statement is based on facts. Every institution of J&K has had a background ofrecruiting the sympathisers and kin of terrorists to garner electoral mileage.
In July 2021, the government of J&K terminated the services of 11 government employees,including two sons of the most wanted terrorist – Syed Salahuddin – for allegedly passing oninformation to terrorists and extending logistic support.
Syed Ahmad Shakeel and Shahid Yousuf, the sons of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Syed
Salahuddin, were dismissed from service for their involvement in terror-funding activities. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in its report, found that the two were involved in raising, receiving, collecting and transferring funds through hawala transactions to support the terror activities of Hizb. So, in the same year, the services of 11 employees were terminated by the Manoj Sinha government under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution. The action was taken following a recommendation by a designated committee for looking into such cases. It is no news that the kin of terrorists who were provided jobs, have been working in different sectors like agriculture, public health, skill & power development and the education department. During the BJP-PDP coalition government in Jammu & Kashmir, a new surrender policy for militants was announced, according to which, a terrorist who surrenders, will be rewarded with Rs Six Lakhs in the form of an FDR (fixed deposit) that will have a lock-in period of ten years and would become encashable upon display of good behaviour. While the FD will have a lock-in period of ten years, a surrendered terrorist would be able to receive Rs 4,000 in interest per month, with immediate effect. Let it be mentioned that SPOs working in the J&K police were
drawing a mere Rs. 3,000 per month to defend the Valley against assaults of terrorists. These figures are a testament to understand the credibility of the statement made by the LG that the previous governments offered jobs to terrorists and their kin on a platter.
Action speaks louder
Pertinently, the present administration headed by Manoj Sinha, has taken terrorists and their sympathisers to the head. Those who had entered government sectors under the umbrella of terrorism, have been shown the door.
A major example is Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan – a senior officer with the Union Territory’s Rural Development Department and wife of Farooq Ahmad Dar, alias Bitta Karate – who was sacked. Her termination order, issued by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, states that “it is not expedient to hold enquiry” in her case and “in the interest of the security of the State”, she has been dismissed from service “with immediate effect”.
A similar worded order was issued against the third son of Hizb chief – Abdul Mueed. The son was working as manager, Information Technology, at the Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute. Similarly, two other employees dismissed from service were Dr Muheet Ahmad Bhat, a D-grade scientist in the Department of Computer Science, University of Kashmir, and Majid Hussain Qadri, a senior assistant professor from the Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir. Both were accused of working against the sovereignty of the State at the behest of inimical forces.
It is indeed clear that the previous J&K governments made an effort to be in the good books of terrorists at the cost of their electoral workers, but the present administration is adamant about destroying that dangerous nexus.
