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| 'Tiff with an IAS officer prompted Prof Mattoo to resign' | | CM yet to take final call, efforts on to get him back on board | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 23: A purported tiff with an IAS officer is what led to Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, noted academician and Advisor to Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti, putting up his papers. Mattoo also served as Advisor to ex-CM late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
The news of Mattoo's resignation came as a shock to the political, social and academic circles with everyone forgetting demonetization and discussing reasons behind this unexpected move of one of the closest aides of Muftis. For almost first half of the day, people largely believed that it is a social networking gossip and there is no reality behind this but as the day progressed, the news was confirmed and then, began the debate over resignation of Prof. Amitabh Mattoo.
Prof. Amitabh Mattoo spoke to a news agency and rebuffed all kinds of stories which had begun doing rounds by the time he was reached for his comments. He did not reveal the actual happening but said that here was no political or administrative reason for his decision to step down. "I have resigned due to personal reasons as I seriously feel I need more time to devote to academics. Politics has never been my career or ambition," Mattoo said.
He added that he felt he could serve the people of the country and state better by continuing his academic journey. "Kindly don't try to attribute any political motive to my decision," is what Mattoo requested. But then, it was close aides of Mattoo who revealed the actual happening. According to them, Mattoo had a tiff with an IAS officer who was earlier serving on an important position in the Chief Minister's secretariat. They said that the IAS officer not only misbehaved with Mattoo but even rebuked him over some issue.
"The language that the IAS officer used was both derogatory and upsetting. Mr. Mattoo is known for being soft-spoken and accommodative. He couldn't tolerate the language since he has served at several top positions," said an aide of Mattoo. He added that the advisor to CM did bring this to the notice of people at the higher echelons of power but there was no response. "No action was taken against the officer for his rude behaviour," said the aide.
He further added that there is nothing more valuable than self-respect. "He is an international figure and one of the closest aides of Muftis. The IAS officer should have been reprimanded but since nothing was done, he decided to quit," added the close aide of Mattoo. He informed that Mattoo is leaving for Australia a day after tomorrow. "His tickets have been booked and he is anyway leaving tomorrow," said another close aide of Mattoo.
Sources said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has not accepted the resignation of Prof. Amitabh Mattoo till the filing of this report. Efforts are on to ensure Mattoo withdraws the resignation and resumes work after returning from Australia in 15 days times. "Some Ministers and MLAs alongwith MLCs tried to convince Prof. Mattoo to reconsider his decision but he said that there was no reason for him to stay on if the bureaucrats do not value political executive," said the aide.
There was no official word if the Chief Minister had accepted Mattoo's resignation. Mattoo was appointed as advisor by Mehbooba Mufti with the status of cabinet minister in April this year. He also served her father, the late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, till his death in January this year. He drew Re.1 as token salary as advisor. A former Vice Chancellor of Jammu University, Mattoo is also a member of many national and international bodies of academics.
Mattoo has also served as CEO and inaugural Director of the Australia India Institute and Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne in Australia. In India, he was a member of the National Knowledge Commission, which is a high-level advisory group to the Prime Minister of India. He was on leave from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where he served as a Professor of Disarmament Studies at the School of International Studies. |
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