Amitabh Mattoo with Governor NN Vohra- File photo
Srinagar: Noted academician Amitabh Matoo says that the draft regarding the domicile law for J&K has been prepared by a Section Officer who probably failed in his law degree.
Under the domicile law, anyone who has resided in J&K for 15 years or has studied in the state for seven years, and appeared in either the Class 10 or the Class 12 examinations, will be eligible for domicile certificates. This would allow them to apply for gazetted and non-gazetted government jobs.
Amitabh Matoo who served as an advisor to former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, said: “It (Domicile Law) is an order drafted by a Section Officer who probably failed his law degree and was then absorbed in government service under SRO-43 on compassionate grounds.”
The tweet was shared widely by users from both Kashmir as well as Jammu.
“But what about those higher-ups who approved that draft in chain of command,” asked Ramesh Mehta. Another said that both people of Kashmir and Jammu should get united over the matter which is totally in discriminatory in nature.
Pertinently, people of Jammu and Kashmir and the politicians cutting across the party lines have expressed concern against the new domicile law.
Jammu based National Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh staged a protest against this domicile law terming it anti-people and a source of depriving original inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir of their livelihood.
“J&K’s new domicile law is part of a diabolical demographic project that began on 5th August with Article 370 abrogation. Imposing it in times of a global pandemic reveals a callous & paranoid mindset wilfully violating consent to ensure subjugation, wrote Iltija Mufti adding that they are in a maddening rush to appropriate our land & resources. Wonder why they don’t show the same sense of urgency to save lives of thousands of Kashmiris jailed in & outside J&K?”
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Talk about suspect timing. At a time when all our efforts & attention should be focused on the #COVID outbreak, the government slips in a new domicile law for J&K. Insult is heaped on injury when we see the law offers none of the protections that had been promised.”
In the next tweet, he said: ” You can imagine how hollow the domicile law is from the fact that even the new party created with Delhi’s blessings, whose leaders were lobbying in Delhi for this law, have been forced to criticise the domicile law.”
The order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Jammu and Kashmir has since been re-issued with some amendments.
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