J&K: 3 govt employees dismissed, order calls prof ‘threat to state’

The order reads: “Whereas the Lieutenant Governor is satisfied after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on the basis of the information available, that the activities of Mr Altaf Hussain Pandit, Professor in Chemistry Department, University of Kashmir S/O Ghulam Hassan Pandit R/O Wadoora Bala, Sopore are such as to warrant his dismissal from the service.”

The order has cited clause 2(c) of Article 311 of the Constitution which allows the President or the Governor to terminate services of employees without holding an inquiry. The two others dismissed are Mohammad Maqbool Hajam, a resident of Lolab in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district who was employed as a teacher with the state’s school education department, and Ghulam Rasool, a senior grade police constable from Doda in Jammu province.

In a similar-worded order, the government said inquiry into their conduct “is not necessary”.

Dr Pandit is the highest ranked officer among 36 government employees terminated under the law in the past eight months.

Thirty-one of them are from Kashmir Valley, including Devinder Singh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who was arrested ferrying top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Syed Naveed. In almost all the cases, the government did not share a reason for the dismissals, either with the employees or the media.

Sources told The Indian Express that while there was nothing incriminating against Dr Pandit recently, he had crossed over to Pakistan in the 1990s for arms training. After his return to valley, the sources added, Dr Pandit had shunned militancy and went to study Chemistry at the Aligarh Muslim University. He became a college lecturer, but soon took a job at the University of Kashmir.

While Dr Pandit was not available for comment, his colleagues said he was present on the campus when the order was issued. As news spread, they added, his students started weeping.