Sacked Govt employees demand amnesty on the pattern of stone-pelters

Neyaz Elahi
Srinagar, Dec 13 (Only Kashmir): Days after Mehbooba Mufti led Jammu Kashmir Government awarded general amnesty to first time stone-throwers, the government employees sacked during 2016 summer agitation for allegedly participating in protests Wednesday demanded that they should also be awarded general amnesty and be reinstated.
Last year State Government had sacked a dozen employees who were accused by the J&K police’s intelligence wing—the Criminal Investigation Department—of spearheading or participating in protests during the pro-freedom uprising in Kashmir.
The administrative heads of several departments had issued termination orders to several employees for “not only questioning the sovereignty and integrity of India but also violating the rules governing conduct of employees in the State.”
The sacked employees who protested here in Press Enclave Srinagar said that they also deserve a chance as their families have been suffering after their termination from the services.
The protesting sacked employees included Abdul Rashid Bhat (Fire and Emergency Service Deaprtment), Ghulam Mohiuddin Shiekh and Tahir Hussain Mir (Education Department), Muhammad Ramzan Naik (PHE Mechanical), Ghulam Mohiuddin Khan (Revenue Department), Mehmood-ul-Hasan (Forest Department), Bilal Ahmed (CAPD Department) and Ghulam Muhammad Mir (Agriculture Department).
“We request Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to take note of our sufferings and revoke the termination orders. We deserve a chance and are hopeful that State Government will consider our case on humanitarian grounds,” they said.
The protesting sacked employees said that they were targeted for the fault of their none. “The irony is that termination orders were issued without any departmental inquiry. It was a hasty decision that affected dozens of families,” they said and sought Chief Ministers intervention. (OK)