Whistleblower scientist gets transferred to remote location
Former Chief Minister and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah has been quoted by local newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir as saying that Kashmiris love Pakistan and no financial package from New Delhi can change this reality. In what is being seen as an attempt to inflame passions ahead of the byelection in Anantnag, which previous CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed represented, Abdullah allegedly said that Pakistan is in the hearts of Kashmiri people and this is a reality. Farooq’s son Omar Abdullah has said that deferring of bypolls in Anantnag Assembly segment is the admission of defeat by the Mehbooba Mufti government. He said CM Mehbooba Mufti is terrified to face the public. The Election Commission on Thursday postponed the scheduled bypoll citing law and order situation. Farooq Abdullah, while addressing his party workers, allegedly said that Delhi should understand why the youth of Kashmir celebrate the defeat of the Indian cricket team. “People in New Delhi complain that despite so much of financial help, Kashmiri people love Pakistan. I tell them they will continue to take money and will still have Pakistan in their hearts,” Farooq was quoted by local newspapers in J&K as saying, while commenting on the recent controversy in NIT Srinagar. Farooq further said that AFSPA should be removed from J&K. He reportedly questioned the wisdom of New Delhi to continue with this “draconian law”. “Why is the BJP government not invoking AFSPA in Chhattisgarh where dozens of CRPF jawans are being killed on the streets? Why these double-standards? Kashmir is now peaceful and AFSPA should go,” Farooq told his party workers. He said that New Delhi should start serious efforts to address the political alienation in Kashmir and provide some hope to the youth here. He demanded restoration of Autonomy and pre-1953 status. India and Pakistan should include people of Jammu and Kashmir for a credible solution to this problem, he concluded. Senior officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) are taking every possible step to harass a senior scientist who complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about malpractices taking place in the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad.
The 54-year-old scientist working in the NFC was harassed by the babus of DAE, who also transferred him to Tarapur, Maharashtra, despite the fact that he has a 28-year-old mentally challenged son. As per a June 2014 Government of India office memorandum, government employees, who have differently-abled dependants, undergoing rehabilitation, cannot be transferred.
The scientist’s son has 100% profound mental retardation, as certified by the National Institute for Mentally Handicapped, Hyderabad, and he has been undergoing treatment at the same institute.
Even after the scientist got a stay order on his transfer from the Supreme Court, the officials of the DEA refused to let him join back and filed an application in the SC challenging the said order.
The scientist had apprised the PM that the NFC was The Jammu and Kashmir government’s two projects to temporarily accommodate non-state subjects and state subject homeless persons, which was initiated by Governor N. N. Vohra during the Central rule in the state, may trigger a fresh controversy for Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
The PDP-BJP coalition government is likely to come under strain on this controversial decision, insiders in the People’s Democratic Party told this newspaper. They said that Mehbooba has taken up the matter with Deputy Chief Minister losing money due to decisions taken by his superiors and highly classified documents were being accessed by private individuals who were appointed as consultants at the NFC. Most of these consultants were the kith and kin of senior officials who are already working in the NFC. Two CVC inquiries (12671/2015 and 13506/ 2015) are already pending against the chief executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex, N. Sai Baba, who has been allegedly harassing the scientist ( Shishir Kumar).
The scientist’s bosses transferred him to Tarapur in October 2015. Following this, the scientist first went to CAT, then to the High Court, and finally to the Supreme Court to challenge this arbitrary transfer order.
“He spent nearly Rs 6 lakh in the court cases, so that his son could continue to get treatment at the National Institute for Mentally Handicapped in Hyderabad. The Supreme Court first stayed his transfer order and directed the DEA to make sure that he was allowed to join back in Hyderabad but the obstinate DEA officials, against whom Kumar had whistle blown, did not allow him to join, and then spent so much of government money and successfully filed an application against the said Supreme Court order, which has now quashed its earlier stay order on his transfer,” an official close to the scientist said.
Kumar’s wife had also approached the office of the Chief Commissioner for Person with disabilities, who had ordered that Kumar’s transfer should be revoked considering the condition of his son.
Kumar argued in his plea in the Supreme Court that there was no specialised institute in Tarapur which can treat his son and that he being the only male member of his family, needs to be near his son to take care of him.
Emails sent to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office and to the head of the NFC, Hyderabad, elicited no response till the time the story went to press. The PDP- BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir will promote the border areas of Jammu as tourist destinations in order to boost tourism. Special attention will be given to developing the Suchetgarh border, which the ruling alliance partners want to showcase as the Wagah border of Jammu region.
The decision comes close on the heels of a recent “Sadbhavna” tour by 150