Srinagar: A senior official from the University of Kashmir is among three employees who have been terminated by the Jammu & Kashmir administration by invoking a controversial law, which activists say is being used “arbitrarily to crack down on free speech”.
Faheem Aslam, who was appointed as a Public Relations Officer at the University of Kashmir in 2008, was terminated by the administration of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha under Article 311 of the Constitution of India.
“…the Lieutenant Governor is satisfied that the activities” of Faheem, a resident of Srinagar, “are such as to warrant his dismissal from service,” stated an order issued by Sinha through J&K’s General Administration Department (GAD).
While officials said that the decision was taken “after considering the facts and circumstances” and “information available” about Faheem, these were not specified in his termination order issued by the GAD on Sunday, a public holiday. The order only stated that the termination of Faheem from his job was “in the interest of the security of the State”.
Article 311 has been described as an instrument of “executive impunity” and activists claim that the legislation is being used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which runs the union territory directly, to undermine the fundamental right of free speech in J&K.
Two similarly worded orders were also issued by the GAD on Sunday to terminate Arshid Ahmad Thoker, a Constable in J&K Police who hails from Shopian district, and Murawath Hussain Mir, a native of Pulwama district who worked as ‘Wasil Baqi Navees’ in J&K’s Revenue Department.
All three employees have been dismissed by invoking sub-clause (c) of clause (2) of Article 311 which removes a critical safeguard of inquiry for the employees who are dismissed by the administration without any notice or a chance of representation.
The sub-clause (c) rules out the opportunity for employees to contest the dismissal as “the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State, it is not expedient to hold such inquiry”.
Faheem, who graduated from the University of Kashmir’s Media Education Research Department in 2008, worked with Srinagar-based and J&K’s largest English daily, Greater Kashmir, as an editor and a columnist. He was appointed as the varsity’s PRO in the same year.
Son of a retired Kashmir University professor, Faheem’s columns in Greater Kashmir focused on current affairs, in which he often criticised governments – from Omar Abdullah to Mehbooba Mufti and the Union government, for mishandling the situation in J&K.
Murawat joined the government as a junior assistant in the revenue department in 1985 while Arshad was appointed as a constable in J&K Police’s armed wing in 2006 and inducted in executive wing in 2009.
Several media reports alleged that the three employees were dismissed for “actively working with Pakistani terror outfits”, “providing logistics to terrorists”, “propagating terrorist ideology”, “raising terror finances” and “furthering secessionist agenda.”
However, there was no such reference in the official termination orders.
Since the Modi government took charge of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 when Article 370 was read down, more than 50 employees have been terminated from service by the Union territory administration using Article 311. Six of the dismissed employees are from Jammu while the rest are from Kashmir.
According to reports, several dozen more employees are being probed for their alleged affiliation with militants and Kashmiri separatists.
The termination of the employees is part of a wider crackdown on what the Modi government has described as an “ecosystem of terrorism” in Jammu and Kashmir. However, activists claim that the government is abusing the law to prevent any criticism of its policies ever since Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and downgraded into two union territories.
In 2021, a ‘Special Task Force’ was set up with members from J&K’s home and law, justice and parliamentary affairs departments by the J&K administration to screen employees and prepare a list of those who are suspected of involvement in “anti-national activities”.
Sources said that the list is prepared after scrutinising the educational and family background of the employees and it is then referred to a committee headed by J&K’s chief secretary. The committee sends the list to the Lieutenant Governor’s office for action under Article 311.
Using Article 311, the J&K administration has terminated teachers, doctors, revenue officials, police personnel and others. The targeted employees are accused of vague charges which have neither been specified to them nor shared with the media.
The administration has also empowered itself to prematurely retire employees “in the public interest” for “non-performance, misbehaviour or bad conduct” by amending Article 225 (2) of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations 1956.
On March 3, 2021, the administration made verification by the Criminal Investigations Department, J&K’s counter-intelligence agency, mandatory for new entrants into government service, while passports are also being denied to employees who don’t obtain clearance from J&K’s vigilance department.
On September 16, 2021, the administration issued an order for “periodic verification” of all its employees and the Criminal Investigation Department was asked to deny clearances to employees involved in “sabotage, espionage, treason, terrorism, subversion, sedition/secession, facilitating foreign interference, incitement to violence or any other unconstitutional act.”
The order also asked the officials to deny clearance to employees whose relatives have “association or sympathy with persons who are attempting to commit any of the above acts or involved in aiding or abetting or advocating the above acts.”
Before Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and downgraded into two Union territories on August 5, 2019, Article 311 was not applicable to the erstwhile state. However, successive governments used Section 126 of J&K’s Constitution to dismiss employees who were also provided safeguards, like in Article 311.