Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Wednesday cautioned the PDP-BJP Government against portraying lakhs of hard-working Government employees of the State as terrorists and anti-social elements to cover its own utter and complete failure on both the governance and the political front. In a statement issued from National Conference Headquarters, ‘Nawa-e-Subha’ on Wednesday, National Conference State Spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said the recent social media diktat issued by the Government is an obnoxious, tyrannical and unacceptable insult to employees and depicts the regressive mindset of the Mehbooba Mufti Government.
“The diktat, in the form of an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Conduct Rules 1971, aims to defame and vilify lakhs of Government employees as either terrorists or anti-social elements who are apparently unable to differentiate between right and wrong in conducting themselves on a day-to-day basis. In asking Government employees to “not endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure” even from their personal accounts, the State Government has yet again exhibited a chronic sense of insecurity and intolerance to criticism and contrarian views. It’s quite possible that the Government might issue another diktat asking Government Employees to endorse every post and tweet of Mehbooba Mufti on social media – given the damning invective of indifference people have shown towards her. This level of pettiness is unbecoming”, the NC State Spokesperson said in the statement.
“Our Government employees have rendered exemplary services in the face of great adversity and constitute the backbone of our Government system. They have risked their lives in the thick of political turmoil to ensure essential services are not interrupted and have behaved with utmost responsibility and dignity. In an order to divert the attention of the people from the Government’s own political failure, the Chief Minister is resorting to shifting the blame on employees in spite of the fact that she has personally deputed her chosen few Government and JK Bank employees for quasi-political deputations to the PDP where they are active parts of the party’s political and media activities. Nothing could be more ironic”, Junaid Mattu added.
The NC State Spokesperson, while expressing solidarity with the Government employees asked the Chief Minister and her Council of Ministers to first stop their policy of foisting their chosen few officers as heads of crucial schemes and departments and in key administrative positions in violation of merit despite proven cases of corruption and misappropriation against them. “This sparkling high morality of the PDP-BJP Government in this case would be funny had it not been so outrageous and tragic. On one hand this Government has given key positions to its few chosen officers despite public and legal indictments of corruption against them and on the other hand the same Government has the audacity to sermonize and lecture lakhs of Government employees about their day-to-day conduct”, the NC State Spokesperson said.
“This Government has broken all records of nepotism and corruption while failing to deliver political leadership and a progressive vision, based on which the State could function in a positive manner. It is tragic that rather than introspecting at the political level, the PDP-BJP Government has chosen to deflect blame by shifting the blame on the employees. Three years in power, the PDP-BJP Government remains utterly clueless and disconnected while robbing our Public Institutions of objectivity, transparency and allowing a complete evasion of accountability. If anyone needs to change their behavior for the betterment of the State, it is the Chief Minister and her Council of Ministers”, Mattu further added.
Reminding the PDP-BJP Government of its chronic trait of hypocrisy, the NC State Spokesperson said it was the PDP-BJP Government itself that handpicked brazenly partisan Government officers and employees of financial institutions and deputed them to blatantly political assignments to run the media operations of PDP and BJP. “Here we have a Chief Minister who has sacrificed every possible vestige of propriety and rules of conduct by handpicking anti-social and openly partisan trolls from social media to function as her secretaries and official staff – a reward given to them for abusing PDP’s political opponents. And then we have the same Chief Minister snubbing all Government employees by issuing this gag order. Even today, a number of Information Officers and associates of the Information Department – appointed through the backdoor – and attached with some PDP Ministers can be seen brazenly engaging in political PR and propaganda for PDP through their social media accounts. Rather than defaming lakhs of Government employees – PDP should introspect and acknowledge its role in eroding the neutrality of institutions at the policy level”, the NC State Spokesperson said in the statement issued from Srinagar.
The NC State Spokesperson lauded the services rendered by Government employees across the length and breadth of the State especially in far-flung areas and said the party was aghast at the contempt shown towards them by the State Government.