Srinagar, Oct 16 (KNS): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has taken serious note of the alleged verbal abuse of a woman Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) officer by a senior IAS officer and written to the Chief Secretary to ensure that she faces no retaliation, National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said on Friday.
In a post on X, MLA Zadibal as per news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) said, “Accountability must prevail, and no one should be allowed to misuse their position to intimidate or victimise others.”
The development comes amid mounting criticism over a purported video showing a senior IAS officer allegedly abusing the woman officer during an official review meeting in Jammu and Kashmir.
The incident has triggered demands for an impartial inquiry and accountability, with the JKAS fraternity and an employees’ organisation calling for safeguards against any retaliatory action against the officer.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti also condemned the alleged conduct and demanded immediate action against the officer.
“How dare you use such derogatory and demeaning language? Take your god complex and dirty slurs elsewhere.
Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelWe will not tolerate this in Kashmir,” she said in a post on X.
Mufti alleged that since 2019, KAS officers and competent Kashmiri IAS officers had been deliberately sidelined, claiming that local officers in the administration and police were being undermined and made subservient to officers from outside the Union Territory.
Addressing Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, she said the officer should be suspended immediately, arguing that the same standards should apply to senior officials as those applied to Kashmiri employees facing disciplinary action.
Earlier, Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi also criticised the alleged behaviour, accusing the senior bureaucrat of threatening the woman officer’s career after she sought to finish speaking during the meeting.
Ruhullah called on the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to ensure that the woman officer was not victimised for standing up for herself.
The senior IAS officer, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, has reportedly suggested that the video could be “morphed or AI-generated”. The authenticity of the footage has not been independently established. (KNS)
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