Civil admin in soup

The manhandling of a sub divisional magistrate (SDM) along with four other officials accompanying him in connection with a poll related duty closer to a road on Kashmir highway in South Kashmir’s Qazigund area shows that even the officers of civil administration directly connected with the poll related duties don’t enjoy the professional liberty which they should have been enjoying in performing their election duty in the areas lying on main highways or peripheral routes closer to highways. Filing FIR against the army after protests by the employees of the civil administration shows that case was registered on mounting public pressure as otherwise it is obviously clear that the government is not bothered even about the normal travel of its officers directly connected with the law enforcement and conduct of elections in the state. The restrictions on the movement of the civil traffic does not given uniformed men the power and authority to impose restrictions on their own whims and wishes even on the officers of civil administration directly connected with the law enforcement and the conduct of elections in the state. Manhandling a sub divisional magistrate also speaks volumes about the excessive use of powers by army, paramilitaries and police under the garb of restrictions on Kashmir highway twice a week even in cases of the routine movement of the magistrates on highways or arterial routes in election time. The unwanted and unwarranted harassment of the sub divisional magistrate on a restriction free day on Kashmir highway shows the misuse of power and authority by the army and paramilitaries even on no restriction days of the week.
Had the sub divisional magistrate (SDM) been manhandled on Wednesday or Sunday when complete restrictions are imposed on the civil traffic on Kashmir highway the government could have given many explanations to defend the unwanted action of the army against SDM. Since the SDM has been manhandled on a day when there were no restrictions on civilian traffic on Kashmir highway, the allegations of misconduct against the SDM deserve a thorough time bound impartial probe to punish the guilty which is the only way to restore the faith of people in public accountability system as otherwise message goes out that even officers of civil administrations are in soup in the troubled Kashmir in election time.