KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
The Kashmir Economic Alliance led by Haji Mohammed Yasin Khan Sunday expressed serious concern over the “systematic disappearance” of the Muslim officials from the corridors of power in the Civil Secretariat.
In a statement, Khan said, “as a part of some anti-Muslim conspiracy, as is prevalent across India, the Muslims are being subjected to discrimination and abuse of sorts.”
“If a Muslim policeman was abused for his sporting beard in Maharashtra and dragged with bruised face by RSS goons, in Jammu and Kashmir similar strategy is played in the Civil Secretariat where the Muslim officials are being kept away from the chairs which hold meaning in the system,” Khan said.
He said for the last around a year, the Muslim officials “are being side-lined” from the seat of governance. “From the top chair of bureaucracy to the HODs it’s the non-Muslim officials who are calling the shots in this Muslim majority state,” Khan said.
“Effects of such communal discrimination in the government have started making impact on the lives of the Muslim majority community of the state. What happened in Sarore, Jammu recently that the dwellings of the poor Muslims were destructed happened only because this community had no voice in the bureaucracy which could have pleaded their case on humanitarian grounds rather than having allowed the phased execution of Saffron agenda in the state,” the KEA Chairperson said adding, “what happened in Sarore is the tip of the iceberg.”
Referring to the Sachar Committee Report of 2005, Khan said the status of status of Muslims in India has already been shown below the conditions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and that now the “same discrimination was being extended to Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The overall percentage of Muslims in bureaucracy in India is just 2.5% whereas Muslims constitute above 14% of the population of India, and in disputed territory of J&K this sinister discrimination is being furthered,” Khan said.
Khan said, “apart from the previous PDP-BJP alliance, the Governor NN Vohra seems to be running the same agenda of hidden forces. While the previous regime started ignoring capable Muslim officials, the worst has come true by the recent transfer orders issued by the Governor where Muslim officials had been distanced from the decision-making,” he said.
“This seems to be conspiracy of the Saffron brigade which wants to erode Muslim majority status of the state and wants to make them get suppressed to minimal level,” KEA chief said adding, “Muslim officials are being kept in cells.”
Referring to the recent transfers Khan further said, “officials like Syed Kifayat Hussain Rizvi and Farooq Ahmad Shah were transferred when their presence was needed the most. Post floods, the tourism needed a strategic revival of this business. But when the process was midway the concerned official on whom flood victims had pinned hopes was transferred.”
Maintaining that the KEA was not against any community and looks ahead for communal harmony in the state, Khan said, “the discrimination with the Muslims was intolerable and that the people of this state were being pushed to a decisive battle to make their presence felt.”
Khan appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over “continued suppression of Muslims”. “Governor NN Vohra must also look into the matter,” he said.
