Ishfaq-ul-Hassan
SRINAGAR—Does the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in the Shopian district recently signal a return to the 1990 situation when Kashmiri Pandits en mass left the Valley?
Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), a Srinagar-based organization of non-migrant Hindus, has asked all members of the minority community to leave the valley.
KPSS statement comes after militants killed Sunil Kumar and critically injured his brother, Pitambar in Chotigam village of Shopian district recently.
Police said Sunil Kumar was killed and his brother injured after terrorists opened fire on civilians in an orchard in the Chotipora area in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
“Terrorists fired upon civilians in an apple orchard in the Chotipora area of Shopian. One person died and one was injured. Both belong to the minority community. The injured person has been shifted to hospital. Area cordoned off,” police said.
“No Kashmiri Pandit is safe in Kashmir Valley. For Kashmiri Pandits, only one option left is to leave Kashmir or get killed by the religiously fanatic minds who have support from the local population,” said Sanjay Kumar Tickoo, president of KPSS.
He alleged that tourists and Amarnath Yatris remained safe in Kashmir, but non-local Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits are the targets of terrorists. He lashed out at the government for its alleged failure to protect the Kashmiri Pandit community.
Data reveal there have been 23 targeted killings up to June 2 this year. They include 14 and 9 Hindus.
These killings are not isolated cases. A series of targeted attacks in Kashmir has created a fear psychosis. Not only Hindus, Muslims, cops, and others too have been killed in targeted attacks in the valley.
The spurt in the incidents has come at a time when the centre has been claiming a reduction in militancy-related incidents post-abrogation of Article 370.
Official figures reveal that around 41,117 migrant families from Kashmir are registered in Jammu, and 21,000 others in Delhi and other states when militancy started in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990. Of the total migrant families living in Jammu, 37,128 are Hindus, 2,246 Muslims, and 1,758 Sikhs.
A 2008 report said the militants killed 209 Kashmiri Pandits. Of which, 109 murders were committed in 1989 and 1990 when the violence was at its peak.
Nearly 3,800 Pandits had returned to the valley under Prime Minister Policy launched in 2008. The policy aimed to provide government jobs and safe accommodation for the minority community.
Fear has gripped these employees who want to transfer to Jammu. Soon after the June killings, the government transferred several pandit employees to Srinagar.
However, Kashmiri Pandit employees are demanding relocation to Jammu. Pandits carried out a protest in Jammu city demanding relocation from the Valley in the aftermath of the killing of another member of the community.
Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s special rehabilitation package and posted in different parts of the Valley said they have become soft targets for the militants and the government has failed to protect them.
“We were employed in the Valley under a special package, but everyone is aware of the situation there. We want our relocation to Jammu so that we can at least remain alive,” protesters said.
Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said that two persons involved in the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in Shopian have been identified and that strict action will be taken against them.
“The way people supported positive moves is appreciable. The calm situation during the August 5 and 15 celebrations was appreciable and the people supported Amaranth Yatra in every possible way, which didn’t suit the anti-peace elements. They try to disturb the peace, but their attempts have been and will be foiled in the future as well,” he said,
Meanwhile, a process to attach the property of the militant involved in the killing of the Kashmiri Pandit in the Shopian district has been initiated. His kin has also been arrested.
