Naib Tehsildar recruitment issue: Sajad Lone criticises elected govt

Srinagar, Jul 16: Peoples Conference President and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone on Wednesday voiced deep concern over the exclusion of Urdu as a qualifying requirement for the post of Naib Tehsildar in J&K, calling it part of a “systematic marginalisation” of the Kashmiri-speaking majority and a dangerous step toward the “linguicide” of Urdu, reports KNS.

Reacting sharply to the development, Lone said, “So now Urdu is no longer needed to qualify for the post of Naib Tehsildar. The majority Kashmiri-speaking population has been almost relegated to a footnote in the recruitment lists. Their presence in the recruitment lists is inversely proportional to their numbers. That is of course due to reservations.”

Lone noted that Urdu had historically given Kashmiri aspirants a reasonable edge in such posts because of the language’s relevance in administrative affairs. “They may have had a slight advantage in the NT exams and justifiably so as all revenue records are in Urdu. Now that has been withdrawn too,” he said, calling it a calculated move to erase regional linguistic roots. Criticising National Conference, Lone questioned the intentions of the ruling regime, “The onus of giving a good legal representation is on the incumbent elected government. Hope it is not yet another fixed match in a series of fixed matches that we are seeing lately,”he said.