Mehbooba, Lone oppose Urdu's exclusion as mandatory subject for Naib-Tehsildar posts in J&K
'It is deeply unfortunate that our judiciary appears to be influenced by divisive politics. Urdu, a recognised official language for decades, is now being unfairly communalised,' former J&K Chief Minister Ms. Mufti said in a post on social media platform X.
J&K's revenue records and administrative work continued to be maintained in Urdu, she said. 'It is only logical that applicants for the post of Naib Tehsildar possess basic proficiency in the language. This requirement is rooted purely in administrative efficiency not in any form of divisiveness,' Ms. Mufti said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been protesting against the government notification issued in June to fill these posts. A Central Administrative Tribunal Bench, comprising Rajinder Dogra and Ram Mohan Johri, on Monday passed an order to stay the operation of the provisions of the J&K Revenue (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules of 2009, making knowledge of Urdu as the minimum qualification. It directed the J&K Services Selection Board to accept applications from all candidates who possess an undergraduate degree with knowledge of any of the five official languages in J&K.
'The exclusion of Urdu as a qualifying requirement is part of a systematic marginalisation of the Kashmiri-speaking majority, and a dangerous step towards the 'linguicide' of Urdu,' Mr. Lone said.
With Urdu 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,' Mr. Lone said.
He said that Urdu had historically given Kashmiri aspirants a reasonable edge in such posts because of the language's relevance in administrative affairs. 'It is a calculated move to erase regional linguistic roots. 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,' Mr. Lone said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
6 minutes ago
- India.com
Coward Pakistan begs US to not help India with..., will Trump agree?
Coward Pakistan begs US to not help India with..., will Trump agree? In a desperate plea, Pakistan has appealed to the US not to sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to India which was offered to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by US President Donald Trump during his US visit in February. After this, when US Vice President JD Vance visited India in April, he also offered F-35 to India. Will India take it from US? Even though there has been no official confirmation on this, last week Defense Secretary RK Singh had definitely said, without naming US, that India is seriously considering buying stealth fighter jets from a 'friendly country.' What Pakistan has pleaded? Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu who visited US has requested the US not to sell F-35A stealth fighter to India. During this time, he met US Air Force Chief General David Allwine, along with some other US military officials and some MPs. In which he requested the US officials not to give F-35 stealth fighter to India. Expressing his fear, he said that if US gives F-35 to India, then it can dangerously disturb the regional strategic balance. Pakistan, whose air force capability is much weaker and limited than India, believes that if India gets fifth generation stealth fighters like F-35A, then it will seriously affect the balance of air power in South Asia and regional strategic stability will be threatened. Will China help Pakistan with J-35 stealth fighter jet? Pakistan has raised this concern to the US at a time when it has reached the final stage in the process of buying J-35A stealth fighter jet from China. China's Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has built the J-35A, a twin-engine stealth fighter and is considered a competitor to the F-35. According to reports, Pakistan has ordered 40 J-35A aircraft, the delivery of which is expected to be completed in the next two years. China has speeded up production to deliver the first batch in the next 6–8 months. Apart from this, there are also reports of Pakistani pilots training with the J-35. This fighter aircraft will be equipped with long-range PL-15 or PL-17 missiles. Pakistan aims to deploy a full stealth squadron by the year 2026. Reports say that China is selling it the J-35 at a 50 percent discount. Will India buy F-35 fighter jets from the US? To counter the possible acquisition of J-35 stealth fighter by Pakistan and China, India is seriously considering buying advanced fighter jets like F-35A from the US or Su-57E from Russia. However, nothing has been said officially about both the aircraft. The Indian Air Force has already signed several defense agreements with the US, including MQ-9B drones, C-17, P-8I and Apache helicopters. Apart from this, the US is going to supply the engine of Tejas-1 fighter aircraft to India and talks with the US to manufacture the engine of Tejas-2 fighter aircraft have reached the final stage. Now the Donald Trump administration is planning to offer India the F-35A stealth fighter jet specifically according to the needs of the Indian Air Force, which will include software defined radio, advanced IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system and other custom hardware according to Indian operational needs. This will be a similar customization as has been done in the Israeli F-35I 'Adir' version. This proposal was also mentioned in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi.
The Hindu
6 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Temple entry cannot be denied based on caste in a country governed by rule of law: Madras High Court
Observing that caste-based discrimination cannot be permitted in a country governed by the rule of law, the Madras High Court on Thursday (July 17, 2025) directed the Ariyalur Superintendent of Police to ensure that Scheduled Caste (SC) persons are not prevented from entering the Puthukudi Ayyanar Temple in Udayarpalayam taluk. Justice N. Anand Venkatesh directed the Superintendent of Police and the Udayarpalayam Revenue Divisional Officer to ensure that all classes of people, irrespective of their caste, are permitted to enter the temple and worship the deity at all times, including the annual festival being held at present. Further, directing the two officials to initiate appropriate action in accordance with the law if anyone prevents a section of people from entering the temple, the judge ordered that the Police and the Revenue departments must also ensure that no disturbance is caused to law and order. Disposing of a writ petition filed by a local resident A. Venkatesan, complaining of caste-based discrimination, the judge said, the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorization Act of 1947 was enacted after a long struggle by many leaders who wanted to ensure that no one was denied temple entry based on their caste. Section 3 of the Act makes it abundantly clear that notwithstanding any law, custom or usage to the contrary, every Hindu, irrespective of their caste or sect to which they belong, shall be entitled to enter any Hindu temple and offer prayers in the same manner and same extent to which another was entitled to do. 'If anyone is restricted from entering a temple based on caste of sect, it will clearly amount to an actionable wrong/offence and the person concerned (the one who restricts) could be sued or prosecuted therefor,' the judge wrote and said, the public officials were duty-bound to implement the law in letter and spirit. What the petitioner said In his affidavit, the petitioner stated the Ayyanar temple in Puthukudi village had been in existence for several decades and worshipped by villagers of all castes and sects for long. However, in 2019, a group of people tried to hijack the temple administration by deciding to construct a new temple on the premises. Though the Scheduled Caste residents too had made monetary contributions toward the construction, they were prevented from entering the temple, leading to multiple complaints made to the police as well as revenue officials. However, these complaints could not be pursued for quite some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the offending group demolished all statues and stone structures that had been put up by the Scheduled Caste residents on the temple premises. Even a big statue of Ayyanar that had been installed, with the name of the Scheduled Caste donor, was removed and dumped into the temple well, the petitioner alleged. He also said an iron gate was installed at the Puthukudi Ayyanar Temple and the Scheduled Caste devotees were made to worship the deity only from outside the gate. Despite such discrimination, the government officials had not made any effective intervention in the matter fearing law and order problems, he added. Further, stating that the offending group identifies itself as the 'Ezhu Vaigaiyara,' the petitioner sought a direction to permit the Scheduled Caste devotees too to enter the Puthukudi Ayyanar Temple, besides letting them participate in the temple car festival scheduled from July 16 to 31, 2025.
Scroll.in
36 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
Calcutta HC asks Centre if there is truth to claims about Bengali-speaking persons being deported
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the Union government if there was truth to the claims that Bengali-speaking persons were being deported to Bangladesh, The Indian Express reported. 'Why suddenly in June?' the newspaper quoted a division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra as having asked. 'There is an uproar in the state that Bengali-speaking people are being deported.' Over the past month, Indian authorities have been pursuing a policy to 'push' individuals claimed to be undocumented migrants into Bangladesh. Many of those forced out of the country claim that they are Indian citizens. The bench made the remarks verbally while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the relatives of Sunali Khatun, a woman from West Bengal's Birbhum district who was allegedly deported to Bangladesh by the Delhi Police. Her husband, Danish, and their five-year-old son were also allegedly deported. The police had picked up Khatun and her family on June 20 from a settlement of Bengali migrants in Delhi's Rohini. According to two police statements seen by Scroll, the three were held in a detention centre. On June 23, they were produced at the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office in Delhi. Another family was detained along with them. A deportation order against the two families was issued by the FRRO the same day. According to the police, they were tipped off by an informer, who identified Danish as 'a Bangladeshi national'. The police also claimed that Danish had 'confessed' to being a Bangladeshi citizen. On June 26, they were 'pushed' into Bangladesh, according to a statement of the station house officer of the KN Katju Marg police station in Rohini and an order of the FRRO. During the hearing on Wednesday, the counsel for the Delhi Police told the court that Khatun's family was deported to Bangladesh in June, The Indian Express reported. The counsel noted that the matter was pending in the Delhi High Court and sought a dismissal of the habeas corpus petition. The petitioners had 'suppressed the facts in this [West Bengal] court', the counsel claimed. The counsel said that the Delhi High Court had been told that the family was deported on orders from the FRRO. Following this, the petitioners withdrew the habeas corpus application and filed a fresh petition in that court against the FRRO orders, the police said. The bench expressed displeasure at the non-disclosure of the facts by the petitioners, The Indian Express reported. However, it directed the Centre, the Delhi government and the West Bengal government to file affidavits in connection with the arrest of the family. The Union government was asked to file its affidavit by July 28. The court said that the petitioners must file their reply to the government's affidavit by August 4. The matter will be heard next on August 6. Meanwhile, Kalyan Banerjee, the counsel representing the West Bengal government, also sought an affidavit from the Centre on how many Bengalis had been detained and forced into Bangladesh, The Indian Express reported. 'Who will decide [about detention]?' the newspaper quoted him as having asked the court. 'The appropriate authority is not the police or constable. You cannot pick up someone just because they are speaking Bengali. There are procedures. These three-four cases are very alarming.' India has forced more than 2,000 persons, alleged to be undocumented migrants, into Bangladesh since the country launched ' Operation Sindoor ', a military operation against terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The legality of the 'push back' policy has been debated in India and internationally. Experts have told Scroll that the policy violated India's obligations under international law and customary international law. In June, four men from West Bengal, who had been picked up by the Maharashtra Police and forced into Bangladesh, were brought back on June 15. The Murshidabad Police in West Bengal had presented proof of them being Indian citizens.
