J&K government sacks 4 employees including son of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin

The son of Syed Salahuddin, the purported leader of the outlawed terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, and the wife of a convicted separatist who also took part in a deadly attack on members of a minority community were among the four employees fired by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday.

According to officials, all four were fired for allegedly being connected to anti-Indian forces and disseminating false information. They have been dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution, enabling the government to sack its employees without inquiry.

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One of the fired workers is Syed Abdul Mueed, the son of Salahuddin (Syed Mohd Yusuf) and Manager (Information and Technology) at the Commerce and Industries Department.

He is the third son of the Hizb head to lose his government position. Last year, Syed Ahmed Shakeel and Shahid Yusuf were fired from their jobs.

According to the officials, the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) building at Sempora near Pampore has allegedly been the target of three terrorist attacks, and Mueed's employment there has allegedly increased support for the secessionist forces.

Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan, the wife of Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and a 2011-batch Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service officer (JKAS), is alleged to have been found involved in providing false information for seeking a passport.

She is alleged to "have links with foreign people who have been indexed by the Indian security and intelligence to be on the payrolls of the ISI". Also, the officials reported her involvement in ferrying consignment of money for funding anti-India activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

'Bitta Karate' has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2017 in a case related to terror funding. He was also involved in the killings of several members of the minority community in the early 1990s.

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Dr Muheet Ahmad Bhat, a scientist employed by Kashmir University's Post-Graduate Department of Computer Science, was also fired from the government. He is accused of actively radicalising students to further the plans and goals of Pakistan and its proxies to further the secessionist-terrorist agenda in the university.

It is believed that Majid Hussain Qadri, a senior assistant professor at Kashmir University, has a lengthy history of affiliation with terrorist groups, such as the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was previously arrested under the strict Public Safety Act mentioned in multiple FIRs pertaining to various terror incidents. In Jammu & Kashmir, there have been approximately 40 staff terminations thus far.

The two Salahuddin sons and corrupt deputy superintendent of police Devender Singh (since dismissed), who was apprehended along the national highway between Srinagar and Jammu with a wanted terrorist and two others, are prominent among them.

According to officials, the Lt. Governor decided the actions of these workers warranted their removal from service in accordance with Article 311(2)(C) of the Constitution after reviewing the facts and circumstances of the cases and based on the evidence at hand.

As a result of this provision, fired employees can only appeal their dismissal to the High Court. A week after the Union Territory administration formed a committee to look into claims that government employees were participating in anti-State activities and recommend firing those determined to be responsible, the dismissal process started in April last year.

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(With inputs from PTI)

• Jammu and Kashmir
• Srinagar