L-G fires 2 govt employees over terror links

Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered dismissal of two employees, citing their involvement in terror activities as a threat to state security.

The decision was taken under Article 311 (2)(c) of the Indian Constitution following an investigation that confirmed their links to terror organisations, officials said.

Those dismissed from services include Zahir Abbas, a government teacher from Kishtwar and Kulgam resident Abdul Rehman Naika, a pharmacist in the Health department.

The General Administration Department (GAD) issued dismissal orders following the orders of Manoj Sinha.

The two employees sacked today join a list of more than 70 employees who have been dismissed by the authorities after invoking Article 311.

Officials say while Zahir was arrested in September 2020 for harbouring Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Kishtwar and is currently lodged in Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal,

About Naika, officials said he was one of the “plotters” of the killing of political leader Ghulam Hassan Lone in 2021.

Today’s dismissal is the first one after the formation of the government which is headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. While the Home Department is controlled by L-G himself, the GAD on the other hand is headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Earlier this month, former CM Mehbooba Mufti had written to Omar Abdullah seeking a thorough review into the “abrupt dismissal” of government employees without following the due process by the UT administration.

Mufti in her letter said the abrupt dismissal of government employees without due process—a pattern that started since 2019—has left many families devastated and, in some cases, destitute.”

On Friday, as more two dismissals took place, People’s Democratic Party leader and MLA Pulwama Waheed Para termed the developments as shocking.

“It’s shocking how the government acts as judge, jury, and executioner, denying the aggrieved even a proper hearing,” he wrote on X. OC