Shopian, Jul 11 (KNO): Amid mounting outrage over the controversial decision to shift the Deputy Chief Education Officer (Dy CEO) office from Shopian district headquarters to Chitragam (Kalan), political leaders across party lines, trade bodies, and civil society members convened an all-party meeting in Shopian on Friday. The purpose was to express strong opposition and strategise a united response.
According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the meeting was attended by the sitting MLA Shopian, Advocate Shabir Ahmad Kullay; Apni Party leaders, including Advocate Gowhar; PDP leaders, including former MLA Adv Aijaz Mir; DDC member Raja Waheed; Yawar Banday; BJP district president Raja Wasim; senior leader Javed Qadri; along with several trade union representatives and civil society figures.
In a rare show of political unity, leaders from rival parties condemned the move as “politically motivated” and “administratively disruptive”, demanding the immediate revocation of the order. They resolved to form a joint committee to lead the campaign against the decision, vowing to “go to any extent” to restore the Dy CEO office to its original location in Shopian.
Speaking to reporters, Advocate Shabir Kullay questioned the logic behind selecting Chitragam for the Dy CEO office when other viable locations such as Zainapora, Turkwagam, Imamsahib, Harmain, and Kapran were available.
“This is not decentralisation; it’s a politically biased decision. If the goal was to strengthen rural academic monitoring, why wasn’t Zainapora, the constituency headquarters, considered?” Kullay asked. "The move appears to favor the sitting MLA of the area."
He suggested that if monitoring of educational institutions was the aim, the government should have created separate posts for Zainapora.
BJP District President Raja Wasim echoed these concerns, condemning what he called “selective governance.” “If transfers can be made arbitrarily, why can’t compensation be ensured for hailstorm-affected farmers? This double standard exposes the government’s bias,” he said. Wasim accused the NC of betraying the people of J&K, alleging that instead of supporting Shopian, they are “snatching posts from it”.
Former MLA Adv Aijaz Mir said Shopian’s central location makes it ideal for district-level offices to remain at the district headquarters. “If the government genuinely wants development, it should create separate posts rather than shifting offices,” he said.
PDP leader and DDC member Raja Waheed said that if proper monitoring was the goal, then instead of shifting the Dy CEO office to Chitragam, posts for ZEOs should have been created for areas like Zainapora, Kapran, and Keller. “When there is no ZEO post for Zainapora, what was the need to shift the Dy CEO's office?” he questioned.
Javed Qadri, a BJP leader, said the NC’s candidate for Shopian is from Zainapora and received around 13,000 votes from the district. “He should stand with the people of Shopian today,” Qadri added.
All leaders agreed that development does not come from “snatching posts from one area and giving them to another”, but through creating new opportunities. They clarified they are not against the development of Zainapora but believe that posts should be created rather than shifted.
Members of local trade bodies and civil society, including representatives from remote areas like Keller and the upper belts, expressed concerns about logistical hardships caused by the move.
“This shift will delay file processing and create unnecessary administrative hurdles. People will have to travel longer distances for routine educational issues,” said one trade representative. Another added, “This is a mere inconvenience dressed up as reform.”
Meanwhile, MLA Zainapora, Showkat Hussain Ganaie, defended the decision, claiming it will improve educational supervision in areas such as Chitragam, Zainapora, Harmain, and Imamsahib. “There is no public dealing at the Dy CEO level; it’s a field-level academic monitoring post. The CEO remains at the district headquarters,” he said.
Ganaie further said that the officer posted at Chitragam is among the most senior and that the issue should not be politicised, as the government is working for the welfare of every area and sector—(KNO)