Shadow Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 15 :
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday invoked a special section of Article 311 and terminated the services of three government employees in the Union Territory for “anti-national” activities.
The decision comes at a time when the elected government, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has signalled a potential reassessment of its relationship with the Centre. Officials said the Lieutenant Governor invoked Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India, a special provision introduced in 2020, to sack Firdous Ahmad Bhat, a police constable; Muhammad Ashraf Bhat, a teacher; and Nisar Ahmad Khan, an orderly in the forest department.
“The trio has been terminated based on a report submitted by security agencies. All of them are currently in jail on different terror-related charges,” an official said.
According to officials, Firdous Ahmad was arrested for his alleged links with militants. Security agencies, in their report, claimed that “he provided logistical and other support to militant outfits.” Likewise, Muhammad Ashraf is accused of radicalizing students and maintaining connections with banned organizations, while Khan was allegedly involved in facilitating the movement of militants in forested areas of Kashmir.
So far, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has terminated 79 government employees for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities.
While the termination of government employees began in 2021—two years after the abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory on August 5, 2019—the exercise seems unending, even as an elected government has been in place since October last year, promising to “end unjust terminations.”
Recently, Abdullah, while speaking to a UK-based news channel, said, “At least in the opening few months of my government, I owe it to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to try and establish a good working relationship with the government of India. If that fails to deliver on the promises that the government of India has made to us, we would relook at it.”
Reacting to the latest terminations, former J&K Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, in her post on X, targeted the Omar Abdullah government.
“Arbitrary & summary dismissals of government employees has 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,” read her post.
