Kashmiri Employees Cautioned by Indian Govt Against Social Media Critique

The controversy surrounding the targeting of Kashmiri Muslims linked to government jobs continues to grow under the Modi regime. In yet another move to dismiss Kashmiri government employees, New Delhi issued a warning lately against the usage of social media platforms to criticize its policies and actions.

In this regard, a circular was issued by the government that restricted government employees from publishing, tweeting, or sharing content criticizing government policy or action. In addition, even participating in discussions involving criticism of government policies or actions on social media pages, communities, or microblogs has also been prohibited. Moreover, even subscribing to pages, communities, or Twitter profiles seen as “political, anti-secular, or communal in nature” has been banned by the BJP government.

Rather, employees have been asked to defend and explain government policies on social media platforms. Furthermore, the circular forbids employees from posting any resentments online. “Violation of these guidelines will be considered misconduct and may invite disciplinary action,” the circular warned.

The circular has raised concerns among free speech proponents, who contend that the new rules violate government employees’ right to express opinions on matters of public interest. In any case, such rules and restrictions show that India is sliding away from its secular norms.