Facing Militancy in Kashmir-II

 

                Facing Militancy in Kashmir-II

In such turbulent times, I expected the PMG to return in a week or so, but he did not. Instead, he managed his transfer out of J&K Circle. It was winter months, fuel and thick curtains were to be provided to all post offices, besides supplying the postmen with warm clothing. Even transfers to the Ladakh Division had not been finalised. I had no time to lose. Tenders were called, and I had to reject defaulters one after the other in short periods. I received a threat to my life from one of the tenderers. On checking his bona fides, it came to be known that he was an insider from the sister Telecom department and the telephone given in the tender was an official number. I warned him of the consequences and eliminated him once and for all. Subsequently, the tenders were finalised hurriedly, and hard coke and wood were supplied to all the post offices. 

Meanwhile, a bomb blast took place in the S R Gunj P O located in a newly constructed departmental building. Some portion of the upper story was affected. I sent the report to the Directorate. I was directed to get it repaired immediately which was impossible. The concerned DDG pestered me, so I was forced to write a demi-official letter to the Secretary directly informing him about the ground reality in Kashmir, which, seemingly, he was unaware of. In Kashmir, repeated attacks were continued on the Central Government institutions, especially on post offices and banks. The banking as well as postal system got paralysed. Rumours were afloat that all these institutions were going to run away from Kashmir, and the public money was going to be swindled. Hence, all money should be transferred to J&K Bank. Curfews were imposed by the State Government and the terror outfits alternatively, resulting in a complete breakdown of the administrative and financial system. 

After some time, I received the transfer order of the PMG from the Directorate with further instructions to assume his duties without any additional remuneration. I refused to comply and shot out a letter to the concerned DDG that I shall only shoulder the additional responsibility provided I am paid honorarium for it. My letter created a great commotion in the Directorate since such a response was unknown in the bureaucratic setup. The Secretary, Posts, held a meeting of Senior Officers to discuss the situation in Kashmir. No one was willing to work in such times in the Circle. However, K Deish, a senior officer, who had earlier worked as PMG in the Circle, volunteered to look after the charge of PMG, J&K, in addition to his own as DDG, Establishment. This was approved. I received a phone call from him with instructions to come to Jammu to receive him. It was very difficult to move around that too unescorted. The State Government had been very choosy in providing security guards to the Officers posted in Kashmir. Somehow, I managed to reach Jammu along with R K Ganjoo, ASP Vigilance. K Deish called us and PA to SSP JT and instructed him to take down his dictation, which in short meant to decentralise all the powers of the PMG to the Director, including the financial and disciplinary powers which was a surprise to me. I objected by saying, “Sir, I hope you know why you are here? You are here because I refused to do any additional duty without extra remuneration. What are you aiming at, Sir, the same thing in a different manner? Sir, I shall do my duty only and your files will be stacked on your table in Srinagar.”

“Deepak, what are you saying. I believe in grooming young officers to shoulder higher jobs efficiently. Your predecessor used to do it.”

“Sir, I am aware of it. My predecessor may have some personal interest in doing so. I have none. I came here with a suitcase and two steel trunks of baggage and shall go with the same. You are free to check with me on that day. Incidentally, I was told that you had hardly signed four to five files during your entire tenure.”

“Who told you that?”

“Sir, the whole Circle Office was saying.”

“OK. Do you have any files to sign right now?”

“Yes Sir.”

I told my Inspector Vigilance to produce all five files before him, four of which he signed instantly while standing. Suddenly, he realised he may be taken for granted, so he raised some objections in one file to stamp his authority. Surprisingly, the said file had a nil report to be sent to the Directorate. 

He asked for his move to Srinagar as soon as possible. Air Tickets were arranged, and the next day we flew to Srinagar. I had asked our office in Srinagar to arrange to send the PMG’s vehicle to the airport at the right time. But due to some miscommunication, the vehicle had not arrived. It was already 2 pm. The Airport would be closed after some time. There were no mobiles, and being a Sunday, the Airport Post Office was closed. I was at a loss to know how to react given the situation prevailing at the time. I called for a taxi to drop us at the GPO Srinagar. Payment was negotiated, and K Diesh, A N Raina, SSRM JT and R K Ganjoo ASP Vigilance took their respective seats in the ambassador. K Diesh sat between ASP Vig and me in the back seat. … to be continued.