Srinagar, A day after the J&K government issued a circular barring its employees from criticising the government on social media, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti hit out at the government and called the circular a “complete violation of the fundamental rights of people.”
“Whether it was blacklisting contractors & 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 & executioner in complete violation of the fundamental rights of people,” Mufti tweeted.
On Friday, J&K’s general administration department issued guidelines regarding the use of social media by government employees while citing Jammu and Kashmir Employees Conduct Rules, 1971, the Information technology Act, 2000, the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services Rules, 1956, and reasonable restrictions on the right to freedom of speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.
The circular listed a set of rules and guidelines for the government employees to follow and warned them of disciplinary action if violated.
PDP leader and former President Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC), Rafique Rather lashed out at the Government for “attacking and essentially snatching the basic human rights of employees.”
Rather advised the administration to refrain from issuing “intimidating” orders and stressed that persisting with the trend of issuing such threatening orders will only encourage hostility and will also affect the work culture in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It is already there in CSR that the government employees can’t criticize the policies of the government, however, issuance of this new order is contriving towards a very hostile circumstance which can attain further volatility if the order isn’t backtracked and the role of trade unions isn’t described.” Rather said.