In what could be perceived as an Orwellian move, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration issued an order on Thursday mandating government employees to report hostile activities of their immediate family members, or they stand to lose their jobs.
The employee will be held liable if they fail to report their relatives or acquaintances who may be directly or indirectly involved in anti-national activities that may compromise India's national and security interests.
"Failure to report relatives, persons sharing residential space or associates who are connected with any foreign Government, associations, foreign nationals known to be directly or indirectly hostile to India's national and security interests", the order reads.
The latest order follows a series of orders mandating government employees to get a clearance from the vigilance department to get a passport and journalists to register themselves with the authorities.
BOOM looks at what the order entails.
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What is the government order?
The J&K administration issued an order outlining parameters on which the character verification of its government employees will be done. These rules contain various provisions that cover a wide range of activities governing the conduct of an employee in public or private.
Government employees will be held liable if they are found to be involved in acts of "sabotage, espionage, treason, terrorism, subversion, sedition/ secession, facilitating foreign interference, incitement to violence or any other unconstitutional act".
The order also bans government employees from associating or showing sympathy with anyone who acts against the nation. "Every Government employee is mandatorily required to maintain absolute integrity, honesty and allegiance to the Union of India and its Constitution and do nothing which is unbecoming of a Government servant," the order read.
Action will be taken against those who are on the list of adverse employees that fail to pass the "discrete verification" based on the recommendations of a "screening committee".
At the outset, the order states, "Every Government employee is mandatorily required to maintain absolute integrity, honesty and allegiance to the Union of India and its Constitution and do nothing which is unbecoming of a Government servant."
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Government employees will also be held liable for the following list of activities mentioned below.
1) Involvement in any act of sabotage, espionage, treason, terrorism, subversion, sedition/ secession, facilitating foreign interference, incitement to violence or any other unconstitutional act
2) Association or sympathy with persons who are attempting to commit any of the above acts or involved in aiding or abetting or advocating the above acts.
3) Involvement of an individual's immediate family, persons sharing residential space with the employee to whom he or she may be bound by affection, influence, or obligation or involved in any of the acts, directly or indirectly, mentioned at item numbers 'i' & 'ii' above, having the potential of subjecting the individual to duress, thereby posing a grave security risk;
4) Failure to report relatives, persons sharing residential space or associates who are connected with any foreign Government, associations, foreign nationals known to be directly or indirectly hostile to India's national and security interests;
5) Failure to report unauthorized association with a suspected or known collaborator or employee of a foreign intelligence service;
6) Reports indicating that representatives or nationals from a foreign country are acting to increase the vulnerability of the individual to possible future exploitation, coercion, or pressure
7) Failure to report contacts with citizens of other countries or financial interests in other countries which make an individual potentially vulnerable to coercion, exploitation, or pressure by a foreign Government.
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