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Political parties politicizing R-Day celebrations: Guv

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 1/23/2019 2:08:16 PM

‘Nothing new in order for govt employees’

JAMMU, Jan 22: Governor Satya Pal Malik Tuesday accused political parties of politicising an order mandating government employees to attend the Republic Day celebrations and said he stood by the order which was being issued since 2009.
Malik said there was nothing wrong in the order. “I stand by this. This is not a new order. It has been issued since 2009. This was there before me. Every year the same order is issued, not even with a change of comma or full stop,” he said. “I have the orders from 2009 to 2018 with me,” he said.
As per the order issued by the state administration on January 15, employees were warned that failure to attend the function will be construed as dereliction of duty and disobedience. “It is the duty of every government servant to attend the Republic Day function which commemorates an important turning point in the history of our nation,” stated the order issued by Deputy Secretary Chander Prakash. “All the officers and officials of the state government stationed at Jammu and Srinagar are, therefore, enjoined upon to attend the functions as part of their official duty,” it said.
The Governor said the order went to all employees of the state government. “There is nothing wrong in it. They have duty on that day and they should be present there. That is why it is being sent to them. There is nothing like imposing nationalism on them. From where does nationalism come into this? They have to perform their routine jobs,” he said. On Monday, while talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function, Malik had said they (politicians) had become defunct and were losing their base which was why they were resorting to communalism. He had alleged that the political parties were politicising the issue and dividing the society by communalising it to gain votes. “This type of politics has destroyed Kashmir," he added.