The J&K government on Tuesday ordered all the departments to endorse all the statutory orders to the union ministry of home affairs, government of India.
According to a circular issued by the General Administration Department, all the administrative secretaries have been asked to endorse all government orders to the ministry of home affairs, government of India.
This comes after the central government announced plans for abrogation of the special status and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories – JK with a legislature and Ladakh which will be under the direct control of New Delhi.
According to a senior official of the JK government, the home department used to report to the union home ministry when Jammu and Kashmir was a state.
“With the bifurcation of J&K into two union territories, now we have to mark all official orders and other related circulars to the union home ministry,” the official said, wishing anonymity.
Jammu and Kashmir is under President’s rule presently. The last government of PDP-BJP government collapsed after the latter dramatically withdrew support to its coalition partner after a bitter and often public war of words.
Following the August 5 move of the central government, prominent faces of mainstream including three former J&K chief ministers have been held under detention and all political activity has come to a grinding halt.
In the first sign of a breakthrough in restoration of mainstream political activity, former PDP leader and JK minister Altaf Bukhari on Tuesday led a delegation to Raj Bhawan where they met the Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu.
The move to meet Murmu coincides with the fourth death anniversary of PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Mohammad Sayeed who decided to ally with the Hindu rightwing following the 2014 JK assembly elections.
According to reports, eight former legislators led by Bukhari met Murmu at the Raj Bhawan amid tight security in Jammu. The delegation submitted a memorandum demanding safeguards for rights of people over land and jobs, release of detainees and withdrawing cases against youth among others.
This is the first time that mainstream politicians from Kashmir have opened channels of communication with the office of Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor and making a slew of demands including restoration of statehood. Bukhari was the state’s finance minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government.
