SRINAGAR: “The Jammu and Kashmir administration has removed 55 government employees from service for supporting terrorism in the Union territory,” said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha during the Shikara Fest cultural event in Delhi, on Sunday.
The employees’ services were terminated by the administration after the special status of J&K was revoked in 2019, and a special task force to identify such employees was formed in 2021, reported Hindustan Times. Sinha emphasised that the administration was not willing to provide financial support to those aiding militancy in the Union territory.
“Approximately 55 government employees and workers have been dismissed for promoting terrorism. This action will continue until such individuals who have facilitated terrorism are dealt with,” Sinha said.
“No government can afford to fund such individuals. This effort will persist in the days to come,” he added.
Following the revocation of J&K’s special status in 2019 and its division into two Union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the administration has been dismissing government employees under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution. This provision grants the government the authority to terminate employees without an inquiry if “the President or the governor is convinced that, in the interest of state security, it is not expedient to conduct such an inquiry.”
The government established a special task force in April 2021 to identify and scrutinize cases of employees allegedly involved in activities posing a “threat to the country’s security or anti-national activities.” Since then, numerous high-profile individuals and those holding important government positions have been removed.
In August, the services of the chief manager of the J&K bank were terminated, with allegations of “links with the terror ecosystem.”
In July, the administration ended the employment of three government employees, including the public relations officer of Kashmir University, for alleged anti-national activities under Article 311 of the Constitution.
Among those who have been dismissed are a chemistry professor, the sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, and a deputy superintendent in J&K’s prisons department.
The terminations have faced criticism from trade unions and political leaders. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti described these actions as “arbitrary” and aimed at “intimidating Kashmiris into submission.”
