Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha of the Union Territory (UT) of J&K on April 10 ordered the dismissal of two government employees with immediate effect. One of the dismissed employees belonged to the police department employed as an Assistant Wireless Operator. The second dismissed employee was working as senior assistant in the Public Works Department. The employees were dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution of India for their deep involvement in anti-national activities, according to officials.
LG Sinha had taken charge on August 7, 2020, a year after Article 370 of the Constitution was abolished. Since then, he has ordered summary dismissal of many employees in this manner leading to a clamour from Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to desist from such actions. Some other politicians have also raised feeble voices against the employees facing scrutiny from various intelligence agencies.
The question of dismissal of government employees in this manner had become an issue during the 2024 legislative assembly elections also with some politicians making speeches regarding this alleged “highhandedness’’. However, Sinha has been firm in rebuffing any and every attempt of politicians pleading for taking a lenient view regarding such employees. In fact, he had said in some interviews in the recent past that anti-national behaviour cannot and will not be condoned.
It may be mentioned here that General Administration Department (GAD) and the Home Department of J&K are headed by LG. These are the two departments directly concerned with applying service rules for all employees and keeping surveillance on suspect government staff. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has no say in these two departments despite being the democratically elected head of the government set-up in J&K.
There has been a clamour for restoration of “full statehood’’ to J&K from various political parties time and again since the assembly elections were held six months ago. However, rogue government employees like those dismissed today are one reason why the GAD and Home need to be administered by LG, or Governor (if and when the statehood is restored).
According to officials, the activities of the mentioned employees had come to the adverse notice of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They were found to be involved in terror related activities prejudicial to the interests of the State.
Basharat Ahmad Mir was employed as Assistant Wireless Operator in Jammu and Kashmir Police Department. He was under intelligence radar on the basis of highly credible inputs from agencies that he was in touch with Pakistan intelligence operatives. Spying for Pakistan, he was sharing critical and vital information about security installations and deployment with the enemy. He, being a trained police official, posted at a sensitive place, had access to vital information. Instead of doing his duties honestly, he chose to be an active conduit playing in the hands of the adversary.
Ishtiyak Ahmed Malik, Senior Assistant in Public Works (R&B) Department, has been listed as an active member of the proscribed unlawful association Jamaat I Islami (JeI-JK) and terror associate of proscribed terrorist organization Hizbul-Mujahideen. He, as a key functionary of JeI, played a crucial role in strengthening the organization within his sphere of influence.
Malik also facilitated creation of network of sympathizers who later became Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terror outfit. He covertly facilitated HM terrorist activities by providing food, shelter and other logistics to the terrorists. He thus played a significant role in aiding, and abetting terrorist activities, especially in South Kashmir as he hailed from Anantnag. He used to provide crucial intelligence to the terrorists regarding movement of security forces, helping them to evade capture and launch counter attacks often resulting in casualties among security forces.
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