In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the President of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, has said the social media guidelines for the government employees are part of “a clear intimidation of dispossessing people” of their livelihood.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Mehbooba Mufti wrote on Twitter: “Whether it was blacklisting contractors and the social media gag to employees, a clear intimidation of dispossessing people in J&K of their livelihood has emerged. Authorities have become judge, jury and executioner in complete violation of the fundamental rights of people.”
Senior leader of Communist Party India-Marxist M Y Tarigami too hit out at the administration, saying being a government employee does not mean one giving up all legitimate constitutional rights as a citizen.
He said barring employees from expressing their views about the issues concerning them is tantamount to stripping them of their basic rights. “They must be treated as citizens, not as subjects,” he said, adding that an employee is not a slave.
“He has presented his services to the government for government works, but he has not surrendered himself. The administration should understand this. A citizen cannot be deprived of his constitutional rights, and if it is done, then it is unconstitutional and unlawful,” Tarigami said.
The Constitution has given him the right to criticise policies of the government, but how he expressed that should be under the ambit of the law and the Constitution, he maintained.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has warned its employees of strict disciplinary action, including termination from service, for posting any material on social media that is critical to any policy pursued or action taken by the government.—KMS
