On September 6, District Magistrate Rajouri suspended Assistant Commissioner Panchayat Abdul Rashid Kholi (JKAS) for hurting the religious sentiments of a Hindu colleague by using cow jibes after he refused to eat meat.
In the order issued by DM Vikas Kundal, it was mentioned that his office received a complaint against Rashid where the complainant alleged he had made some objectionable remarks about a particular religion during a lunch at a hotel during office hours where four other subordinates were also present.
Good to see instant action and justice in Jammu & Kashmir after Sanjeet Sharma complained that one Govt official Abdul Rashid Kohli (JKAS) mocked Hindu religion and eating habits of vegetarians in Rajouri. Abdul Rashid Kohli suspended. Inquiry ordered. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/5dDugYRRu5
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) September 7, 2022
The order read, “[The] conduct of the officer is not only a violation of service conduct rules but also an issue of hurting religious sentiments of other community and has the potential of creating Law and Order problem within the district. Therefore, keeping in view of the above facts, Mr Abdul Rashid Kholi AC Panchayat is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect.”
A committee has been formed under Pawan Parihar, ADDC Rajouri, to enquire into the matter. The committee will report back in 15 days to the DM.
‘If you eat beef (Cow meat), you will become holy for one year’
A complaint was filed by Secretary Panchayat Sanjeet Sharma to the DM where he had a complaint about Abdul Rashid and informed DM about the derogatory remarks he had passed when Sharma refused to eat meat. He mentioned in the complaint that the group was out to have lunch during office hours at Hotel Blue Star located in Muradpur. Zaheer Malik (Secretary Panchayat), Utish Ashok(Secretary Panchayat), and Tahir Mirza, MIS Operator, were also present at lunch, along with Sharma and Kholi.
When they ordered food, four of them ordered non-vegetarian food of their choice, but Sharma being a vegetarian, ordered vegetarian food. Rashid noticed that Sharma did not order anything non-vegetarian and asked him the reason, to which Sharma informed him that he was vegetarian and did not like non-vegetarian food.
Sharma’s refusal to eat food irked AC Panchayat Rajouri, who used “objectionable and un-parliamentary language against Hindu religion”. Sharma said, “By quoting VEDAS, He said If you eat eggs, you will become holy(Pure) for one day, If you eat chicken you will become holy for seven days, If you eat mutton you will become holy for one Month, but I was shocked when he told me that if you eat beef (Cow meat), you will become holy for one year. When I objected to his words, he repeatedly told me it’s a fact which is written in your religious scriptures. He said you didn’t read them.”
‘Read your religious scriptures… you will convert to Islam.’
Sharma mentioned that the other colleagues present at the table did not intervene. To his shock, Kholi further asked him to read the religious scriptures of Hinduism, and he would convert to Islam. He said, “The others colleagues were mute spectators. He said to go through your religious scriptures by reading them, you will convert to Islam. These objectionable comments on religious sanctity shocked me, which was unbearable and unacceptable at any cost.”
Sharma tried his level best and objected to the remarks as much as he could, but Kohli allegedly did not stop and continued to insult Hinduism and Hindus. He added that Kholi’s remarks for a specific religion despite being on a respectable post “speaks volumes of his agenda”.
Rashid threatened Sharma with removing him from his post
Sharma added that when he objected to the remarks, Rashid threatened that he would quash him from his post. He said, “Being a subordinate of him, I did tell you to stop such remarks, then he threatened me of quashing from the post. Sir, is the services of an employee being ruled as Islamic rule or by laws framed by Indian constitution? I wondered how an officer can force someone to convert and do against the principles of one’s religion.”
Sharma said he would resign from his post but would not convert and eat whatever he decided to eat. He also requested DM to take appropriate legal action against Rashid as per the service rules and the law of the land.
