The Hindu : Kashmiri officers discriminated against?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 13, 2003

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Kashmiri officers discriminated against?

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR APRIL 12. The 'healing touch' policy of the People's Democratic Party seems to have failed insofar as the Kashmiri officers in the administration are concerned.

After the second major reshuffle in the administration in the past five months, Kashmiri Muslim officers have alleged that the PDP has been making them "sacrificial goats'' to remain in power. Against the backdrop of allegations of discrimination against Jammu and Ladakh by Kashmiris, the present Government is accused of having "surrendered to certain forces''.

Even as senior Ministers had promised that "wrong decisions'' would not be taken in ordering transfers and postings in the administration, the latest order which came on April 4 has again dashed the hopes in Kashmir. Apart from leaving two senior officers, Khurshid Ahmed Bhat and Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai, without any posting, the interesting transfer was of the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, Naseem Lanker. She was the only person of the rank to have been transferred.

Sources say since Nadimarg falls in Pulwama district and the massacre took place when she was the Deputy Commissioner, she was perhaps "punished'' for what was out of her control. Her shifting to an insignificant posting has only strengthened the suspicion. On the face of it, the affected Pandits were gunning for the Anantnag Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, Pulwama. (A part of Nadimarg falls in Anantnag district). Their cause of ire was that a delegation from Nadimarg had approached the Anantnag Deputy Commissioner and asked for adequate protection but nothing concrete was done and officers continued to be complacent.

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