On Saturday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration fired four government workers, including Assabah Arjumand Khan, the wife of Bitta Karate who is facing terror charges and is accused of the Kashmiri pandit exodus in the 1990s. The others who have been dismissed include an associate professor who was a former LET terrorist and a Kashmir University scientist.
According to the reports, the administration under the direction of LG Manoj Sinha dismissed the employees from services under Article 311 of the Constitution of India for their involvement in anti-national activities. “The law provides for dismissal of a person employed in civil capacities under Union or a State”, the government said in the matter.
The government in its release stated that the employees were involved in activities that were not in the interest of the security and the state. “Activities of these employees had come to the adverse notice of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A Committee, constituted on July 30, 2020, for scrutinizing the inputs, records, and cognizable material recommended the dismissal of the 4 namely Dr Muheet Ahmad Bhat, Majid Hussain Qadri, Syed Abdul Mueed, and Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan”, the release noted.
Reports mention that Bhat, who worked at the University of Kashmir was found to be involved in spreading a secessionist-terrorist agenda at the University by radicalizing students to further the program and agenda of Pakistan and its proxies. Whereas, Qadri, a Senior Assistant Professor at the same University is associated with the terrorist organization named LeT. He earlier had been booked under u/s 302, 307, and 427, 7/27 RPC in various terror-related cases.
Meanwhile, the wife of terrorist Bitta Karate who had a major role to play in the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan was discovered to have connections with foreigners who have been identified by Indian security and intelligence as being on the ISI payroll. Her role in transporting funds for anti-India operations in Jammu and Kashmir has also been highlighted.
It is worth noting that wife Khan who holds a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism, had earlier said that she felt honoured to be the wife of Bitta Karate. “Getting married to him (Karate) is an honour for me. When people around me came to know that I am tying a nuptial knot with a separatist, they showed a lot of concern initially, but I made them understand that there is nothing wrong with it”, Khan said in an interview.
“When the armed struggle was at a peak in the Valley in the early nineties, militants were the most sought-after men. People used to accord them a warm welcome and give them all the respect”, she added. Karate in 1991 confessed that he had executed more than 40 Kashmiri Pandits during the Exodus. He had also admitted that Kashmiri Pandit Satish Tickoo was the first person he killed.
He was arrested in 1990 and charged with the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. However, he was set free after 17 years. Bitta Karate, the butcher of Kashmiri Hindus, was once again arrested in 2008 during the Amarnath land row agitation. He was released eight months later, only to be picked up again in 2019 on terror funding charges. Assabah Khan on the other hand worked as an editor at the Agriculture University of Science and Technology until 2007 and passed the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) test in 2009. She was assigned to the general administration department and in 2011, she married the terrorist.