Srinagar: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday warned the government against sacking employees on the grounds that they had links to militants, saying the move will create more problems.
“The government should stop it. The militancy will not reduce, it will only increase and create more problems for them (government),” Abdullah told reporters here.
He was responding to questions about the sacking of government employees on various grounds, including links to militancy and separatism.
Six government employees, including two policemen, were dismissed from service on September 22 for their alleged links to militants in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked about the sacking of employees on the grounds that they were appointed without following the laid down procedure, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said the previous governments gave jobs to the people so that they could earn a living.
“It is not as if we had taken money or there was corruption (in recruitment). We gave jobs to people so that they earn a living. Now, if they are sacking them, what will their children do? How will they meet everyday needs?” Abdullah said.
In response to a question, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar said he has not received any information about the next meeting of the delimitation commission for Jammu and Kashmir.
“As a Member of Parliament, I have to sit in the delimitation commission but so far I have not received any information,” he added.
Asked about restoration of statehood and special constitutional status to Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said “We want to do it in a Gandhian way”.
“The case is before the Supreme Court. There has been no hearing. What can we do? We can’t throw stones. We want to do it the Gandhian way,” he said.
He also claimed that “every party except the BJP in J&K is united in restoration of Article 370 and 35-A and there are no differences”.
“Every party has its own system, however, as far as Jammu and Kashmir, Article 370 and 35-A is concerned, they all are united, ” news agency KNO quoted Abdullah as saying.
Referring to the BJP, he said that “they want to create a division among Muslims, so that they can rule”.
“They have always used the policy of divide and rule and they want to follow the same, but we have to stay united as unity is the only way we can defeat these people,” he said.
He also said that everyone needs to get together to find a solution to growing problems, especially the problems being faced by the youth.
“Otherwise there will be destruction. We need to create avenues for the youth, if we fail to do that the problems will be compounded and the drug menace that is prevalent here will create trouble for the youth and coming generations,” he said
