Healing touch: Govt jobs to 158 next of kin of terror victims on 6th anniversary of Article 370 abrogation

The Print

2 days ago

The ceremony of handing over the appointment letters to these families, victims of terrorism, was held on the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The Central government withdrew the article giving special status to the people of the state on 5 August 2019, when the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Addressing a gathering of relatives of victims of terror attacks, in capital Srinagar, he urged the civilian population of the union territory to fight terrorism, adding that many generations in Jammu and Kashmir have suffered from terrorism and that every person should pledge to not let it happen again. He said peace was the only prerequisite for progress in the union territory.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha Tuesday handed out letters of appointment for government jobs to the 158 next of kin of victims of terrorism in the Kashmir valley, over the last many decades. Significantly, the letters came on the 6th anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370.
'On 5 August 2019, a new Jammu and Kashmir was born. A new Jammu and Kashmir that had dreams of a golden future in its eyes. A new Jammu and Kashmir, which treated all its citizens as equal and removed discrimination that was prevalent for seven decades. People ask me what is new Jammu Kashmir. I want to tell them that the new Jammu and Kashmir is one where jobs are not given to terrorists but to the real martyrs of this UT,' LG Sinha said, addressing the gathering.
'The new Jammu Kashmir is one where tears are not shed on the death of terrorists but the tears of common Kashmiris are wiped away. The new Jammu and Kashmir is one where the terrorist elements sitting in the government system are being cleaned out one by one, and the decades-old wounds of terror victim families are being healed. The new Jammu Kashmir is one where common Kashmiris are being embraced and not the separatists. The new Jammu Kashmir is one where children have pens in their hands and not stones,' the Lieutenant-Governor further said.
Tuesday's distribution of appointment letters to the next of kin of victims of terror was the third such event in the past one month. Earlier on 13 July, LG Sinha had handed over appointment letters to 40 next of kin in Baramulla, followed by 80 such letters in Jammu on 28 July. The remaining appointment letters will be handed over to the next of kin in their respective districts soon, the LG office further said.
Citing an example a victim whose family got compensation, LG Sinha recalled one Abdul Majid Mir, who was abducted and killed by terrorists in June 2004. From Baramulla's Sheikhpura, Majid was the sole breadwinner for the family.
'Abdul Majid's family lost their sole breadwinner and received only Rs 1 lakh as ex-gratia payment under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. Despite Abdul Majid Mir's martyrdom, his family struggled to live a life of dignity. Today, by providing a government job to his son, Mudasir Majid, the administration has fulfilled its long-overdue responsibility,' LG Sinha said.
'I assure the family members of civilian martyrs that I will not rest until every family that has been a victim of the terrorists' atrocities gets justice. I want to tell the loved ones of martyrs that the dreams of your father or your mother will now be fulfilled,' he further said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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