J&K Admin Directs 7,000 Employees to Attend Modi’s Srinagar Rally: Report

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has reportedly directed around 7,000 employees to attend a rally in Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to make an address on Thursday (March 7).

The rally will be Modi’s first in Srinagar in nine years and it will also mark the beginning of the saffron party’s campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Kashmir for which the BJP has not yet announced its candidates.

In what seems to be an attempt to project widespread support in Kashmir for the BJP-led central government’s decision to scrap Article 370, the administration has ordered the employees from 13 departments including education, sports, agriculture, social welfare, rural development and others to attend the PM’s rally.

Schools roped in

The administration, which is run directly by the central government, has reportedly ordered private schools in Srinagar to ferry these employees in their buses to the Bakshi Stadium while the food safety department in Srinagar has been directed to ‘ensure the presence of representatives from 62 bakery shops’ at the venue.

‘All Departmental/Sectoral Nodal Officers shall strictly ensure that vehicles allotted to their respective sectors shall only be utilised at respective identified pickup locations, keeping in view of the security measures. No alteration shall be entertained in the list of participants, Vehicle Nodal Persons, allotted vehicles etc.,’ an official circular, quoted by The Hindu, reads.

According to reports, security agencies have been ordered to run a background check and find out whether the employees, who have been directed to attend Modi’s rally, have any links with separatists groups or militant outfits.