State Times News
SRINAGAR: On Monday, a National Conference (NC) delegation, headed by General Secretary and former Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar is scheduled to meet Governor Narendra Nath Vohra with a formal complaint against the IAS officer and Director of School Education, Kashmir, Dr Shah Faesal, and a Jammu and Kashmir Bank official who on Friday attended a meeting with the PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and another senior leader of the party Naeem Akhtar.
In an unusual statement released to the media, the NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said that his party expressed disappointment at the trend of bureaucrats, government officers and J&K Bank Employees’ “openly participating in political meetings of PDP” and said this was not only improper but also violated the principles of neutrality and objectify that government and public sector enterprise employees were governed by.
Mattu also questioned on his Twitter handle how the J&K Bank could pay salaries to the PDP workers.
The NC spokesperson said the party had taken a very serious note of Director Education, Shah Faesal’s participation in a PDP political meeting at Gupkar recently and said the party would register a formal complaint with the Governor on Monday, seeking prompt action against the participation of government officers in political events.
“We have nothing against Shah Faesal and respect him and his achievements and that is why his participation in a political meeting at PDP President’s residence is even more disappointing. If the PDP has to interact with businessmen and entrepreneurs and advocate the party’s ideology and vision, why should the Director Education be present? This not only falls in the realm of impropriety but also calls into question his neutrality and objectivity in discharging his professional duties”, the NC spokesperson added about the IAS topper of 2009-10.
“Naeem Akhtar is not the Education Minister anymore and Mehbooba Mufti hasn’t taken over as the Chief Minister – not at least for now and Shah Faesal is not obliged to attend such political meetings. That this participation happened on a work-day, in working hours is a greater disappointment as it indicates misplaced priorities of a public servant. To ensure this trend is nipped in the bud, National Conference General Secretary will be formally writing to the Governor N. N. Vohra on Monday”, the spokesperson said.
Mattu said the party would also register a formal complaint with the Governor over the brazen political activities of Saadat Hussain, a J&K Bank employee on a special deputation to the former Chief Minister’s grievance cell – who also attended the particular meeting at the PDP President’s residence.
“For years, Saadat Hussain has defamed, vilified and abused public figures opposed to PDP under the nom de guerre of “Ibn-e-battuta” on social networking sites – at times even advocating and justifying violence against certain individuals and the J&K Bank leadership has been aware of this. Despite Saadat Hussain’s illegitimate political activities while on the payrolls of a Public Sector Bank, the JK Bank leadership not only obliged the PDP by deputing him on a special political assignment but has also given him a carte blanche to abuse, vilify and defame public figures – particularly leaders belonging to National Conference. And now the same individual is attending PDP’s political meetings in broad daylight”, Mattu said
“The party will register a strong complaint over this as well with the Governor on Monday and will seek appropriate action under the service rules and conventions of the Bank and those that govern employees of Public Sector enterprises,” he said.
While as the bank’s public relation officers and officials of the Corporate Communications wing did not respond to phone calls, one of the middle rung officers said on condition of anonymity that Hussain was on deputation with the e-Governance cell in Chief Minister’s Secretariat. “We have no knowledge of his activities and working. So the bank has got nothing to do with it”, he asserted. He claimed that nobody by the name or pen-name of Ibn-e-Battuta existed in the bank”.
Dr Shah Faesal said: “It was a purely apolitical meeting of business entrepreneurs and other people. We had been called by a sitting Member of Parliament and a Member of Legislative Council. The MP and MLC are within their right to call the Government employees for a meeting”.
While as Ms Mufti is the Lok Sabha member from South Kashmir, former Education Minister Naeem Akhtar continues to be a member of the J&K Legislative Council.
