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The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has initiated a case based on a letter petition moved by Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS).
SabrangIndia had reported previously that in wake of growing anxiety amidst the minority Hindu community in the state, KPSS had written to the HC on June 1, listing the names of members of the Kashmiri Pandit community who had been killed in the Valley so far. The letter also expressed concerns over the appearance of posters by terrorist organisations warning of dire consequences for the members of the community who did not migrate out of the state during the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of the late 80s and early 90s.
Now, Bar and Bench reports that a bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Javed Iqbal Wani heard the matter. While Advocate Gowhar Jan appeared for the petitioner, Advocate General DC Raina along with government advocate Sajad Ashraf appeared for the State. The case was adjourned to July 4, 2022 on the request of the petitioner.
What had KPSS said in the letter?
The minority Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community has been in the crosshairs of terrorists over the last few months, and many prominent and beloved members of the community including pharmacists, teachers, government employees and businessmen have been gunned down so far. In fact, Ajay Pandita, a Sarpanch of a village in Anantnag, was killed way back in June 2020. By May 31, 2022, as many as 12 people have been killed.
The community, feeling threatened, wanted to leave the Valley, but the letter alleged, “That the Kashmiri Pandits / Hindus want to leave Kashmir Valley but the Government is not allowing them to leave which can be gathered from the press/news reports and social media statements. The government blocked the roads, used electric currents to barricade the walls of the transit camps, the main doors of the transit camps are closed from outside with locks.”
The letter added that it was “a clear violation of the Right to life which is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India as on the one hand, UT / Central Administration fail to protect the lives of the religious minorities in Kashmir Valley and on the other hand does not let them leave Kashmir Valley so that they can protect their respective lives.”
The petition demanded a probe into the spate of murders of members of the Kashmiri Pandit community.
The entire letter petition may be viewed here:
According to Tickoo, “At present a total of 808 families, comprising over 3,400 people live in different parts of the Kashmir Valley.” Many of these non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit families are extremely impoverished and live in squalor with no steady source of income. In wake of the killings, 800 Kashmir Pandits who live in South Kashmir, continue to fear for their safety.
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