Srinagar: A day after he was shot dead, lone Kashmiri Pandit in the village, bank guard Sanjay Sharma was cremated in his native village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, with his Muslim neighbours lending a helping hand to the grief-stricken family reported PTI. Sharma was shot dead allegedly by militates on Sunday morning barely 100 metres from his home in Achan in Pulwama when he was on his way to the local market. He was rushed to a hospital by passersby but he succumbed to the injuries. The mortal remains of Sharma, 40, were consigned to the flames as per Hindu rituals amidst the presence of his family members and neighbours, including an overwhelming number of Muslims, officials said. It was the Muslim neighbours helped his family members in performing the last rites, they said.

“We condemn the murder. We stand by the bereaved family. As soon as the news of the incident broke yesterday, people were ready to provide all help — blood, money or anything else — to save him. Unfortunately, he succumbed on the way (to hospital),” said a local resident, Bashir Ahmad Malik told the media. He also said the killing was a setback for the Hindu-Muslim harmony in the village which has existed since centuries. “This is not the murder of one individual, this is the murder of humanity. The people of this area are as bereaved as the family of the victim,” Malik said.

Sharma became the first victim of targeted killings by militants this year. Last year, 18 persons were brutally shot dead by militants, including three Kashmiri Pandits, a bank manager from Rajasthan and eight non-local workers, in a total of 29 attacks in the Valley.

Both on the day of the killing and next day, last night, Feb 27 again the Pulwama Kashmiri Collective went to Achan and held a candlelight vigil. Large numbers had gathered for this vigil.

Meanwhile, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti called for a hartal yesterday that had a mixed response. The KPSS had issued a strong statement against terrorism and the political ineptiture of the union government.

Meanwhile in an act of irony given that it came a year after the killing, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday handed over a government job appointment letter to Suneeta Pandith, wife of Suneel Pandith, a Pandit shot dead by terrorists in Shopian last year. The L-G handed her the job letter at Raj Bhavan in presence of her family members in Jammu.

Speaking to reporters in Anchal LG Sinha said, “It is an extremely unfortunate incident. No words are enough to condemn the killing. Whoever has carried out the act, our security forces will take care of them.” He said such incidents can create doubts in the minds of people about the security scenario, but the administration and security forces are working “with a 360-degree approach”.

This reaction by the authorities has not been greeted well by opposition parties. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who visited the bereaved family, said Kashmiri Muslims are ashamed over Sharma’s killing and hit out at the government for claiming that normalcy has been restored in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The government claims to have ended militancy. If that is the case, who killed him (Sharma)? What is the government doing,” Mufti asked while talking to reporters.

“We are the same people who put everything at stake in 1947 to protect the Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus and Sikhs living in the Valley when the subcontinent was reeling under communal riots,” she said.

Related:

Village Mourns Killing of Man Belonging to Lone Kashmiri Pandit Family Which Stayed, Vigil held: J&K

Call for hartal on in Valley, KPSS condemn brute killings of Kashmiri Pandits, call out extremists

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Achan, Pulwama: At around 10 am on Sunday, February 26, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, 45, a Kashmiri Pandit, was, according to his family, on the way to a hospital with his wife, Sunita Sharma, when unknown gunmen opened fire at him from a close range, hitting his chest and leaving him lethally wounded.

Neighbours including, Mohammad Maqbool first confused the sound of gunshots with the short-circuiting of naked electric wires running close to the building. As they rushed to inquire, a woman’s desperate cries for help soaked the morning air in panic and gloom and chaos broke out.

“Sanjay was lying in a pool of blood on the road while Sunita was holding him, screaming madly. We got a vehicle and immediately shifted him to a hospital where doctors later said that he had passed away,” Maqbool, a private bank security guard, told the media, including The Wire.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir, Rayees Muhammad Bhat said that the attack was carried out by terrorists and they will be “tracked down soon”. “We are investigating the case swiftly. We will track down the terrorists involved in the killing and neutralise them soon,” he said.

The shooting is the last in a long line of attacks on civilians in 2022. It took place barely 50 metres from Sanjay’s home in Achan village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The two-storey house has been provided with round-the-clock security by the J&K administration following a string of targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits over the last more than two years.

The Pulwama Kashmiri Collective went to Achan and met Sanjay Sharma’s family. A candle light vigil this evening.

These are from Pulwama civil society candle light vigil against the killing of Sanjay Sharma yesterday

Related:

Targeted killings, govt neglect compels migration of Kashmiri Pandit families from Valley

2,000+ govt jobs, transit accommodation & cash relief to Kashmiri Pandits, says MHA mum on their security

J&K: Kashmiri Pandit Staff Reiterate ‘Relocation’ Demand Amid Clamour Over Film at IFFI

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Srinagar: Suspected militants on Sunday shot dead a member of the minority community in Achan village of Litter area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district evoking sharp criticism in the union territory. 

The Jammu and Kashmir police identified the victim as Sanjay Sharma, a local of Pulwama, working as an armed security guard. He was shot at from a close range whilst he was on his way to the local market. Immediately after the attack Sharma, a Kashmiri Pandit, was rushed to the hospital but the police later said that he succumbed to the bullet injuries. 

The police posted in the area said that they have since launched an investigation and cordoned off the area to track the attackers. 

The attack comes just two days after a civilian identified as Asif Ganai was targeted by suspected militants in the Bijbehara area of South Kashmir on Friday. Ganai however survived the attack and his condition is said to be stable. His father Ali Mohammad Ganai, a head constable with J&K Police was killed in a similarly targeted killing last January. 

The attack on the minority community member has renewed fears of similar attacks that caused fear and subsequent demand for relocation of the Pandit community employees. 

The prominent group which represents the Kashmiri Pandit minority in the region Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) in a statement lashed out at the authorities for failing to protect the minorities from such attacks in the region. 

“Govt and BJP4India canot handle 75 lakh Kashmiri Population and want to control PoK and Balochistan. Kashmiri  Pandits are killed like dogs in Kashmir and HMO India and office of LG J&K sensor the information that Kashmir most dangerous place for KPs in this world (sic),” KPSS tweeted. 

The political parties condemned the attack on Sharma terming it dastardly and a reflection of the deteriorating situation in the region. 

“The vicious cycle of killings doesn’t seem to end. GOI has failed to protect minorities in J&K & reduced them to sitting ducks. Everyone here is paying a heavy price for this facade of normalcy. My deepest condolences to his family,” Mehbooba Mufti of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said.

The killing was also mourned by others including National Conference, People’s Conference and Apni Party leadership. 

“Deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sanjay Pandith of Achan in Pulwama district of South Kashmir. Sanjay was working as a bank security guard & was killed in a militant attack earlier today. I unequivocally condemn this attack & send my condolences to his loved ones,” NC vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted.

Condemning the attack senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) M Y Tarigami said that the attack has once again brought back the uncertainty caused last year due to such attacks against civilians. 

“Condemning in no uncertain terms the killing of Sanjay Pandith in Pulwama. The unfortunate incident has again raised the spectre of last year’s despicable targeted killings in the Valley. Sharing the pain and grief of the bereaved family,” he said in a statement.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Widespread protests have been reported across Jammu, especially in the Pir Panjal area of Rajouri, after six civilians, including two minors, were killed in two attacks in Dangri village last night.

A minor boy was killed, and seven others were injured in an explosion near one of the three houses where armed assailants targeted the locals, killing at least four people, including a father and son. Another minor girl, who was critically injured in the blast, succumbed to her injuries, taking the toll to six and leaving 11 injured.

According to Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Jammu Zone, some of the injured are being treated in Rajouri hospital, and some have been shifted to Jammu hospital.

“It appears that the IED was kept under a gunny bag which exploded today. The area has been cordoned off, and a search operation is underway. There is information about the presence of two terrorists,” Singh told reporters.

The attack in Rajouri was widely condemned by social and political organisations, which led to protests across the Jammu division. The protests were led by several organisations, including Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, Dogra Manch and Bharatiya Janata Party, who termed the attack against the Hindu minority as “dastardly”. According to eye-witnesses, the demonstrations were reported in Pir Panjal areas of Rajouri and Poonch and Jammu areas of Rani Park, Bahu Moad, Trikuta Nagar and Chowki Choura. Many protests raised slogans against the police and administration accusing them of “failure” to protect the civilians.

Condemning the attack, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, visited the region and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to the victim’s next of kin.

“An ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh and a government job would be given to the next of kin of each of those civilians martyred in the dastardly attack. Seriously injured would be given Rs 1 lakh. Officials have been directed to ensure the best treatment to injured,” the Office of the LG announced on Twitter.

There has been an uptick in violence in the Jammu area, including in Poonch and Rajouri, since last year after years of a relative lull, which many security officials had already indicated. The fresh attack in the region was widely condemned by political parties, many of whom questioned the J&K administration and BJP for misrepresenting the situation in the Union territory.

“It is unfortunate that there is still terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. It has spread similarly to how hatred is spreading across the country; it is also an outcome of that. Hindus and Muslims are being divided… Look at what is happening in Nainital,” National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah told the media.

“Condemn this cowardly act and offer condolences to their families. Despite being under BJP rule and its bogus claims of ending militancy, violence continues unabated. Had J&K had its own elected government, the same media would have hauled them over the coals,” People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.

The attack was also condemned by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) led by incarcerated Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

“Hurriyat Conference strongly condemns the innocent killings of unarmed civilians in Rajouri. We express our condolences to the deceased and their families,” APHC said in a statement.

NC’s Omar Abdullah also tweeted against the attack whilst also questioning the role of security forces in handling the aftermath.

“This apparent carelessness on the part of the security forces needs to be probed and accountability fixed. Costly lessons learnt in the past taught us not to hand over the sites of encounters/attacks without thoroughly sanitising them. Why wasn’t this SOP followed in Rajouri?” he tweeted.

Congress leader Vikar Rasool and Communist Party of India (M) leader MY Tarigami also lashed out at the government for the security lapse.

“The incident is at odds with the government’s normalcy narrative. Unfortunately, the government has failed to contain violence despite making lofty claims about the improved security situation,” Tarigami said in a statement.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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On December 13, 2022, during the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament, Lok Sabha Members Shri Kunwar Pushpendra Singh Chandel (BJP) and Shrimati Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah (BJP) raised the question of whether the Government has taken any measures to protect the rights and lives of minority Kashmiri Pandits in the country in view of the frequent attacks on them. They also asked to be provided with the details of the policy measures being undertaken for the welfare of Hindus minorities in Kashmir.

The Minister of the Ministry Of Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, responded to the said question by informing the Lok Sabha that “The Government has a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism. The Government has taken several measures to ensure safety of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. These include a robust security and intelligence grid, day & night area domination, patrolling and proactive operations against terrorists, round the clock checking at Nakas, deployment of Road Opening Parties at strategic points to thwart any terrorists attack.”

The government then went on to state that “2,639 Government jobs have been provided to Kashmiri Migrants under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), 2015. Government has also approved construction of 6000 units of transit accommodations for Kashmiri Migrant employees engaged/to be engaged in different Departments of Government of Jammu and Kashmir in the valley. Further, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has launched a portal on 7.9.2021 to address the grievances of Kashmiri Migrants. The Government of India reimburses the expenditure incurred by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir on providing the following facilities to the eligible Kashmiri migrants settled in Jammu:

(i) Monthly cash relief at the current rate of Rs. 3250 per person with the ceiling of Rs. 13,000/- per family; and

(ii) Monthly dry ration of 9 kg rice, 2 kg Atta per head and 1 kg sugar per family.

In the case of Kashmiri migrants settled in Delhi, the Government of India reimburses the expenditure incurred by the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) on the monthly cash relief of Rs. 3250/- per person out of which the share of GNCTD is Rs. 1000/- per person.”

The answer can be read here:

Has the Government Actually been able to protect the Kashmiri Pandits?

On December 6, 2022, Peoples’ Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti had accused the BJP of “exploiting the pain and suffering” of Kashmiri Pandits and said the government had failed to protect the minority community in Kashmir.

“This government has failed to protect Kashmiri Pandits. It is only exploiting the pain and suffering of the community for its own benefits. It is not serious about their problems,” Mufti had told reporters at Qazigund in Anantnag district.[1]

This comment was made by her in reference to the leakage of a list of Kashmiri Pandit employees posted in Kashmir. She had said that it was unfortunate that such information was being made public. 

In the month of October, Union Home Minster Amit Shah had visited the valley and claimed the situation in Kashmir is normal and that militancy has been neutralised. Time and again, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and officers of the Jammu and Kashmir administration have repeated this claim. The Sangh and BJP have always maintained the root cause of the Kashmir problem was Article 370, granting the region special status. Therefore, they argued, its removal would bring normalcy to the valley.

Now, more than three years after the abrogation of Article 370, when the erstwhile state was carved into two Union Territories, and its administration brought under central rule, the situation has worsened. Kashmiri Pandits who did not leave the valley even in the nineties are being killed and compelled to migrate. Many Pandits have shifted families to Jammu or elsewhere, and at least five families have permanently left Kashmir.

Sanjay Tikoo, leader of the resident Pandit association, KPSS, who himself is living with the risk of life threats levelled, says if today’s situation persists, most members of his community will leave the valley. Beneficiaries of the PM’s Package must not be made sacrificial lambs for the sake of image management for the government. Blocking the salaries of migrant Pandit government employees and compelling them to remain in the valley is no solution to this problem. Until the situation normalises and security is assured, there is no point in pressuring them into forced rehabilitation. Even during the nineties, the Pandits who fled the valley were not denied salaries and compensated for their hardships and agony.

The Fiasco of Kashmir Files

The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), a Srinagar-based group representing those Kashmiri Pandits who, at great risk to their lives and livelihoods, never migrated from the Valley had called The Kashmir Files an attempt to sell the community’s pain for commercial and political “benefits”.

KPSS president Sanjay Tikoo told the media the tweet was about the film, which he said had caused nothing but harm to the Pandit community. “The film is nothing but commercialisation of our pain, politicisation of our pain,” Tickoo had said.

The Kashmir Files, endorsed by the BJP, portrays the 1990 attacks on Pandits in Kashmir in a manner that seeks to demonise Muslims. Nadav Lapid, celebrated Israeli filmmaker and chief jury at the International Film Festival of India, had on Monday said the film was “propaganda” and “vulgar”.

The Samiti chief, who had criticised The Kashmir Files in the past as well, said the film had dealt a blow to decades-long efforts to bridge the differences between the Muslim and Pandit communities in Kashmir.

Brief Background of Kashmir Exodus:

Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee Kashmir from 1989 onwards due to terrorist attacks and violence. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, many Kashmiri migrants are living in different areas of the valley. These include existing transit accommodation at Vesu (Kulgam), Mattan (Anantnag), Haval (Pulwama), Natansa (Kupwara), Sheikhpora (Budgam) and Veerwan (Baramulla).

Related:

Centre Must Learn, Kashmiri Pandits Can’t be Forcibly Rehabilitated
Protests spiral after brute killing of Kashmiri Pandit farmer: Kashmir
Distress of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) in Valley continues, KPSS alleges govt unconcern
Kashmir Hindu dies allegedly at the hands of terrorist gunmen
Kashmir: Suspected militants claim another life

[1] BJP Government Has Failed To Protect Kashmiri Pandits, Says PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti (outlookindia.com)

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Srinagar: The recent cinematic critique of a film by the jury head of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa has reignited concerns amongst protesting government employees from the Kashmiri Pandit (KP) community in Jammu city.

The protest by the community entered the 204th day on Thursday and was cited by many on social media, bringing focus back on the employees who are demanding relocation outside Kashmir valley.

The protest began earlier in May this year after a revenue official Rahul Bhat was killed by suspected militants inside his office, triggering a fresh wave of fear and uncertainty among the minority community. The KP employees recruited since 2010 and posted in the valley are on the strike and have not been attending offices since then.

Film-maker and Right-wing activist Ashoke Pandit backed the protesters on Wednesday, advocating the demand for relocation of KP employees, He also lashed out at the Israeli jury head Nadav Lapid, an acclaimed film director, for terming the film, The Kashmir Files, as “propaganda”.

“We cannot put our community to be targeted by the militants. We do not want more bodies and no more killings. We are hopeful that the authorities will take measures to address our problem and relocate them,” Pandit told reporters.

Incidentally, Lapid told PTI on Thursday that his remarks as jury head had been “misinterpreted”.

“I have enormous respect for the tragedy, victims, survivors and for whoever suffers there. It (my remarks) was not at all about this. I’ll repeat these words 10,000 times if I have to say that I was not talking about the political issue, historical equation, or disrespecting the tragedy that happened in Kashmir,” he said, adding that: “I was talking about the movie and that such serious topics deserve, in my opinion, a serious film… .”

Following its release, the film was called out by regional political parties, including the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and several others for its provocative “communal slant”.

“Finally, someone called out a movie that was nothing but sheer propaganda promoted by the ruling party to demonise Muslims esp Kashmiris and widen the gulf between Pandits and Muslims. Sad that diplomatic channels are now being used to silence the truth,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted after the fresh row.

The Kashmiri Pandit Migrant Employees had carried out a barefoot march in Jammu last week after 200 days of protest against targeted killings. Over 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir after Article 370 and 35 A was revoked, according to official data.

This year, over 20 persons were killed and injured in targeted killings, including at least two KPs, following which the employees, who have been provided with jobs under the Prime Minister relief and rehabilitation scheme, went on protest.

“We have been protesting for 204 days. There is fear so we came to Jammu. Our only demand is that we should be relocated outside Kashmir. The solution to our problem is not within Kashmir but outside. I believe anything else will not work,” a protester said. 

The PM package employee union during the protest raised slogans and criticised the administrtaion for ignoring their demands. A protester told NewsClick that the employees cannot keep “looking over their shoulders” all the time and work in this fear.

The administration drew flak for what many termed as “mishandling” of the problems faced by the Kashmiri Hindu minority in the region. Some of the members from the community termed online support for The Kashmir Files as “hollow” in the midst of lack of support to the protesting employees.

“A jury member’s take on the Kashmir Files has shocked 1000s who are now demanding his apology for hurting the sentiments of KPs. Where have you been for the last 6 months when 100s of KPs have been protesting in Jammu, begging Govt. to listen to them? Their salaries stopped,” author Siddhartha Gigoo tweeted.

Meanwhile, in Jammu, where the protests are happening, former minister Choudhary Lal Singh,  Chairman Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party, condemned the authorities for the “lack of accountability” in the administration. 

“The party which promised political empowerment to Jammu has literally left it in total chaos, lawlessness, corruption and a sense of scare all around. Not only that the people have been deprived of popular rule. The Constitution of India which assumes a democratically elected government. to run the affairs of its varied administrative units is being brazenly defied,” Singh said in a party statement.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Dolly Kumari was the last Kashmiri Pandit in Shopian district’s Chaudharygund village. Last evening, even she also left the valley and migrated to Jammu . In the face of government neglect of resident Kashmiri pandit demands, her departure comes after all other seven Pandit families living in the village quietly migrated to Jammu following the recent targeted killings in the valley. “There is atmosphere of fear. What else I could have done,” said Ms Dolly told NDTV.

The Kashmiri Pandit women, Ms Dolly also said she was trying to be brave when she decided to stay back for a few more days even after all other Kashmiri pandits had left the village She also said she will come back once the situation improves.

“I will come back if situation improves. It’s my home. Who wants to leave her home. Everyone loves home. I feel very sad that I had to leave my home” Ms Dolly added. Ms Dolly who usually grow around 1,000 apple boxes said she has entrusted her neighbour to take care of the harvest and dispatch apple boxes to Mandis outside Kashmir.

“I have also asked a neighbour to arrange shipment of apples to mandis. Now it depend on him what they will do” she said.

This is the long list of migrations over past weeks. On October 15, Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was killed outside his home in Chowderygund village. Two months before that, a Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by terrorists at an apple orchard in Shopian’s Chotigam village.

“Tell me will you not tremble and feel scared when such incident happens right next to you” Ms Dolly said. All Pandit homes in the village are now locked. They didn’t even stay back to sell their apple produce.

They have left behind thousands of apple boxes in the village entrusting their Muslim neighbours to dispatch them to mandis. Chowderygund and Chotipora villages had 11 pandit families. All of them have now migrated to Jammu.

Ghulam Hassan, a villager who helped Dolly fence her compound, said her brother in Jammu asked her to move out of the village. He also said that Puran Krishan was the best human he knew in the village.

“It’s most tragic that he was killed. It’s after the recent killing, Pandits felt unsafe and left. None of these families had migrated even during peak of terrorism and unrest” said Mr Hassan.

Obdurate and non responsive to local demands, the district administration, however, denied that the Pandit families were leaving due to fear over targeted killings. “The reports are baseless. Proper and robust security arrangements have been made by the administration” said a statement issued by district administration.

“It’s clarified that due onset of winter and after harvesting period is over, many famines migrate to Jammu. There is no instances of migration due to fear in the district,” it added.

Ghulam Hasan Wagay, an ex-serviceman in the village said fear after recent targeted killings has driven pandits out of their homes and locals Muslims are now taking care of their apple produce.

Ghulam Mohammad Shah, a 76-year-old man, said he will ensure not single apple or apple box is lost.

” I guarantee, not a single apple or box will be lost.. I feel very sad that they had leave their home” said Mr Shah.

In 1990, thousands of pandit families had migrated from Kashmir. Since then successive governments have made several efforts to bring back Kashmiri Pandits to the valley, but in vain. 

Five Kashmiri pandits have been killed in the Valley in the last one year.

Due to fear of attacks, about 6,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees, who had returned to the Valley as part of centre’s special employment scheme, have not been going to their offices for the last six months to mark their protest against the targeted attacks. 

Related:

Centre Must Learn, Kashmiri Pandits Can’t be Forcibly Rehabilitated
Protests spiral after brute killing of Kashmiri Pandit farmer: Kashmir
Distress of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) in Valley continues, KPSS alleges govt unconcern
Kashmir Hindu dies allegedly at the hands of terrorist gunmen

The post One more migration, last Kashmiri Pandit woman in terror-hit village, migrates appeared first on SabrangIndia.

With intensified targeted terror attacks and a number of killings recently, 10 Kashmiri Pandit families have left their village in Shopian district in south Kashmir out of fear and reached Jammu. The residents of Choudharygund reportedly said the recent terrorist attacks have triggered a fear psychosis among the Pandits who lived in Kashmir through the most difficult period of terrorism in 1990s and did not leave their homes. Pleas for increased security cover and a redressal of a string of grievances from the central government controlled administration have met with stony silence.

#KPExodus2022#KashmiriPandit
कश्मीरी पंडितों का पलायन घाटी से अनदेखा किया जा रहा है और कुछ उच्च अधिकारी हमें “वीर भोग्य वसुंधरा” का पाठ पढ़ा रहे हैं। अपनी असफलता का उन्हें ज़रा भी ग्लानि नहीं है उल्टा वोह हमारा “चारा” बना के अपने लिए पद और प्रतिष्ठा ढूंढ रहे हैं।

— KPSS (@KPSSamiti) October 26, 2022

Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists outside his ancestral house in Choudharygund village of Shopian district on October 15. On October 18, Monish Kumar and Ram Sagar were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists while they were asleep in their rented accommodation in Shopian. “Ten families comprising 35 to 40 Kashmiri Pandits have migrated out of our village due to the fear psychosis,” a resident of Choudharygund village who faced a death threat recently told PTI. He said the village was now empty.

“The situation is not conducive for us to live in Kashmir Valley. We live in fear due to killings. There is no security for us,” another villager said. The villagers alleged a police post was set up away from their village even though they repeatedly sought protection.

They said they have left everything in their houses, even the recent harvest of apples. Those who have reached Jammu are living with their relatives. President of the KPSS, Sanjay Tickoo has circulated links of this Video that speaks of the sorry plight of this neglected minority in the Valley.

Both the Telegraph and the NewIndian Express have reported on the small exodus.

Related:

Centre Must Learn, Kashmiri Pandits Can’t be Forcibly Rehabilitated
Protests spiral after brute killing of Kashmiri Pandit farmer: Kashmir
Distress of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) in Valley continues, KPSS alleges govt unconcern
Kashmir Hindu dies allegedly at the hands of terrorist gunmen
Kashmir: Suspected militants claim another life

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Ranjan, a Kashmiri Pandit living in the valley, got a government job under the Prime Minister’s Packages for the Return and Rehabilitation of Kashmiri Migrants to the Kashmir Valley. It is a program the Manmohan Singh government started to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits displaced after the militancy in the nineties. Ranjan returned to his hometown after more than two decades, and obviously found the place vastly changed. But his neighbours welcomed him wholeheartedly as he started life afresh.

Since Ranjan could not find government accommodation, he settled into a private home rented from a local Muslim family. His job involves intensive travel into the remotest areas of the valley and regular interaction with locals in each place. After a long detachment from his roots, he found being back soothing and reassuring. He sometimes felt discriminated against but never threatened for his life or safety. Indeed, the return was made pleasant for an older generation of Muslim Valley residents has fond memories of ‘Bhat’ counterparts and feels guilty about the nineties.

A micro-minority and targeted killings

While working on my book, Kashmir Aur Kashmiri Pandits, I met numerous Kashmiri Pandit families living in and outside Srinagar. There are about 5,000 Pandits who never left the valley, and a similar number returned to take up government jobs under the PM’s package. They either live in modest apartments in camps constructed by the government or rented homes. Living as an invisible micro-minority brings its own set of problems, but until recently and after the nineties, there was no sense of threat. Even after the killing of Rakesh Pandita and Ajay Pandita in 2021, the perception was that this was a part of terrorist attacks on elected representatives. Remember that many Muslim representatives were also targeted, and Pandits ordinarily ignored these incidents. But the killing of Rahul Bhat at his workplace this summer changed perceptions.

Rahul was an ordinary government employee who lived in the Sheikhpura camp near Badgam with his family. One fateful day, a few people came calling at his workplace, then shot him point blank. It was not an isolated case. The valley recorded several targeted killings in the summer, including off-duty police officers and civilians. Dalit teacher Rajni Bala, a bank branch manager from Rajasthan, two non-Muslim teachers in Srinagar and a migrant brick kiln worker were also killed. No doubt many of these killings were openly targeting the Pandit community.

Naturally, fear gripped Pandits in the valley, and when the administration remained apathetic, their only viable option was to migrate.

Disturbed narratives and inhuman directives

Summer 2022 saw a massive tourist inflow into the valley, and the government busily showcased it to build an all-is-well narrative. Targeted killings darkened this superficial claim, but instead of taking this threat seriously and accepting the reality, it made every attempt to underplay and conceal it. The agitating Pandits were ignored and locked inside their camps, preventing their attempts to migrate.

Ranjan claims government officials accepted it was impossible to provide security to every Pandit in the valley and it would take at least two to three years to understand and eliminate the new kind of militancy taking root there. When the government could not create any safe zone in the valley in the 30 years since militancy erupted in the nineties, how can Pandits expect to be safe in far-flung areas where there is no security presence? Citing a UN resolution on the right to life, Ranjan accuses the present dispensation of using his community as a pawn in their political games and taking advantage of their plight.

Most Pandits who applied for jobs under the PM’s Package are from poor or lower-middle-class families who struggle for survival. They did not return voluntarily but grabbed an opportunity to feed their families in the package deal. Government jobs have always been a source of survival and pride for the community, whose traditions and the caste barrier prohibited them from physical work in agriculture and handicrafts. Noted Kashmiri historian PN Bazaz has written about a fascinating custom where older members of Kashmiri Pandit families would bless newborns with finding a government job as adults.

Hence, the returning Kashmiri Pandits lived peacefully in camps or rented homes, often working all week and returning to Jammu during weekends or holidays. However, after this summer, their sense of insecurity has them demanding transfers to Jammu or other places where they could feel safer.

An ignored plea

The beneficiaries of the PM’s Package have been staging protests in the valley and Jammu since May, demanding transfers away from the valley. They presented a memorandum to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and the L-G of Jammu and Kashmir, but no avail. Ranjan says that instead of taking cognisance of their grievances, the government machinery tried to create all kinds of pressure on them. For instance, they were compelled to sign bonds that they would not leave their places of work. There was also pressure on them when their salaries were not sanctioned at the ground level, while the media blacklisted their protests.

The security threat they feel is real and multi-pronged. The government did not keep its promise to provide its returning migrant employees secure accommodations, of whom 70% live in rented homes. Terrorist organisations have threatened landlords, mainly from the majority community, making the situation grimmer.

In the meantime, a transfer list of Kashmiri Pandit employees got leaked, amplifying the risk to their lives and well-being. Recently, a biometric attendance system was introduced, and an order was issued to pay their salaries only based on recorded attendance at work. Ranjan claims this makes them more vulnerable, for terrorists can quickly identify them when they arrive at work and leave at fixed hours.

Another killing amidst claims of normalcy

Most beneficiaries of the PM Package have left the valley since July after Rahul Bhat was killed. Sandeep (name changed on request), who still lives in the Sheikhpura camp, says most people in rented homes have shifted to Jammu. Only 30% of camp inhabitants still live in Srinagar but are under tremendous pressure. They, too, want to leave after this academic session and plan to transfer their wards to schools in Jammu. Children’s education was the foremost concern for the employees. Initially, some schools provided online learning facilities, but this has stopped, leaving their wards in a lurch.

Sandeep laments life in the camps as akin to bonded labour. Camp residents are not allowed to move around freely. The Army monitors their movements, and they sense a constant threat. He asks: If the threat perception is so apparent, why can the government not shift us to Jammu?

At the time of writing this, one more Kashmiri Pandit, Puran Krishan Bhat, was killed. At the time, he was close to his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of South Kashmir. (Middle-aged Puran was confined to household chores.) In a widely circulated video, Puran’s relative confirmed the claim that his family was disallowed from mourning the death and that they were pressurised to conduct Puran’s last rites ASAP.

Just a couple of months ago, another Kashmiri Pandit, Sunil Kumar, was shot dead by terrorists at an apple orchard in Shopian. His brother Pintu was also injured in the firing. The attack was claimed by ‘Kashmir Freedom Fighters’, an offshoot of Al Badr. Its statement said the Pandit brothers had been targeted to encourage people to participate in “Tiranga rallies” during Independence Day celebrations.

Dark Diwali, darker future

A few days back, Union Home Minster Amit Shah visited the valley and claimed the situation in Kashmir is normal and that militancy has been neutralised. Time and again, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and officers of the Jammu and Kashmir administration have repeated this claim. The Sangh and BJP have always maintained the root cause of the Kashmir problem was Article 370, granting the region special status. Therefore, they argued, its removal would bring normalcy to the valley.

Now, more than three years after the abrogation of Article 370, when the erstwhile state was carved into two Union Territories, and its administration brought under central rule, the situation has worsened. Kashmiri Pandits who did not leave the valley even in the nineties are being killed and compelled to migrate. Many Pandits have shifted families to Jammu or elsewhere, and at least five families have permanently left Kashmir. The recent murder of Puran Kishan Bhat is bound to trigger this process all over again.

Sanjay Tiku, leader of the resident Pandit association, KPSS, who himself is living with the risk of life threats levelled, says if today’s situation persists, most members of his community will leave the valley. Beneficiaries of the PM’s Package must not be made sacrificial lambs for the sake of image management for the government. Blocking the salaries of migrant Pandit government employees and compelling them to remain in the valley is no solution to this problem. Until the situation normalises and security is assured, there is no point in pressuring them into forced rehabilitation. Even during the nineties, the Pandits who fled the valley were not denied salaries and compensated for their hardships and agony.

As for rehabilitation, Sanjay says, we have no problems with the Muslim residents of the valley. He says they have always welcomed the Pandits. But now the landlords and local residents themselves are under threat. Until this problem is handled with the larger context in mind, and a political solution to the Kashmir problem is reached—in which the Kashmiris participate in the process and outcome—tall claims are of no use. The government’s current approach shall elevate the issue to a higher level, making it impossible for the Pandits to survive in Kashmir.

Ashok Kumar Pandey is the author of several books and a political commentator. The views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Terrorists shot dead a 56-year-old Kashmiri Pandit in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday, the latest in a series of targeted attacks in the region, police officials familiar with the matter said. This killing has renewed protests by migrant Kashmiri Pandits employed under Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package, some even demanding relocation from Kashmir. For the past two weeks, even as visits by high political functionaries continued, Kashmiri Pandit (KP) families in the Kashmiri valley have alleged callous governmental neglect.

At 11 am on Monday, October 17, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) that represents 805 families still living here, tweeted, “When GOI can provide elaborate security to the lakhs of Amarnath Yatris for the two months of the Yatra duration every year, why is it not possible for the GOI to provide (lasting and permanent) security to the 7k odd (7,000) KPs living in the Kashmir Valley.”

When GOI can provide elaborate security to the Lakhs of Amarnath Yatries for the two months of Yatra duration then why it is not possible for GOI to provide security to the 7 K odd KP’s living in the Kashmir Valley .

— KPSS (@KPSSamiti) October 17, 2022

“Terrorists fired upon a civilian from the minority community, Shri Puran Krishan Bhat while he was on way to orchard in Chowdari Gund Shopian. He was immediately shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed. Area cordoned off. Search in progress,” J&K Police tweeted.

In a statement issued late on Saturday, KFF spokesperson, Waseem Mir, said: “Today our cadre carried out an operation at Choudhary Gund area of Shopian in which one Kashmiri pandit Puran Krishnan was eliminated. We have already warned about our attacks on Pandits and non-locals working on the Modi led agenda of settler colonialism post abrogation of Article 370. Wherever you are don’t think you are out of our eyes. It’s just the matter of time and place. Next turn will be yours.”

Since the brute killing of Puran Krishan Bhat, a fruit grower, who was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of the district on Saturday morning (October 15), spiraling protests have erupted from the KP minority While the DIG claims that security was provided to the six Kashmiri Pandit families living in the village, the overall situation for the minority KPs in the Valley has been subject matter of deep dispute with the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) who represents 805 families living in the family consisting to taking to social media to highlight government unconcern and neglect.

Nine civilians, including migrant workers and local residents, have been killed in targeted attacks in Kashmir since May. Bhat’s killing comes two months after fruit seller Sunil Kumar Bhat, 48, was shot dead in Shopian. KFF claimed responsibility for that attack also.

On Saturday, shock and grief shrouded Bhat’s family members, who questioned the administration’s security arrangements for Kashmiri Pandits. Members of the Bhat family told The Hindustan Times, “We are told that Pandits are safe in their homes in Kashmir. He [Bhat] was shot dead at the gate of his house,” a relative of Bhat said on condition of anonymity. “He left behind 2 little children. He was the breadwinner, now he’s no more. Everything is finished. It’s a targeted killing. They [terrorists] don’t kill just anyone who comes before them but those whom they don’t like. They don’t want Pandits in Kashmir,” another relative of his said.

Saturday’s attack also renewed widespread protests by Pandit employees. “Our worst fears have once again come true. We have already fled the Valley otherwise we feel many of us would have been dead. The government has remained unmoved and paid no heed to our pleas for relocation,” Nikhil Kaul, one of the protesters who blocked the Jammu-Akhnoor road, said. Yogesh Pandit, another protester, even said they will not return to Kashmir till the situation becomes better. “The killing of Bhat exposed the government’s claims about the improved security situation in the Valley. We will not return till the situation becomes normal in a true sense,” he said.

While Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha and politicians from across the party lines condemned the attack, there has been no response on officialdom in terms of accepting and applying the PM Rehab package with immediate effect.

“Attack on Puran Krishan Bhat by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. I assure the people that the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists will be severely punished,” Sinha tweeted.

National Conference vice president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah offered condolences to Bhat’s family. “Another reprehensible attack. I unequivocally condemn this attack in which Pooran Krishan Bhat has lost his life. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family. May Pooran ji’s soul rest in peace,” he said.

Condemning the killing, BJP general secretary (Org) Ashok Koul said. “These things will not be tolerated anymore as these attacks are aimed to disturb the peace in the region.”

The PDP said while the Kashmiri Pandits have been protesting for the last five months demanding their relocation, the “LG administration in their hubris kept turning a blind eye to their plight”. “Today yet another Kashmiri Pandit, Puran Krishan, was shot dead in Shopian. Thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family,” the party said.

Increased violence

The August attack was claimed by ‘Kashmir Freedom Fighters’, an offshoot of Al Badr, in a statement that said that the Pandit brothers had been targeted for encouraging people to take part in the ‘Tiranga rallies’ in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations.

Sources had then said the government, based on inputs from the country’s top body for intelligence sharing ‘Multi-Agency Centre’, was bracing for more such violence.

“There are regular inputs which suggest that a large quantity of small arms and ammunition has been smuggled from across the border, and it’s a clear indicator that such targeted killing and isolated cases of grenade throwing will see an increase in coming days,” a senior officer in the Home Ministry has said then.

Kashmir has been witnessing a series of targeted killings since October last year. Many of the victims have been migrant workers or Kashmiri Pandits. In October last year, seven civilians were killed in five days – four among them a Kashmiri Pandit, a Sikh, and two migrant Hindus. Three others were local Muslims.

In May, terrorists had also barged into the tehsildar’s office in Budgam and shot dead 36-year-old Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit who received a government job under a package for the community that was forced to flee the Valley during the wave of militancy in the 1990s.

The killing triggered a wave of protests by the minority community. Kashmiri Pandits held demonstrations during which they raised slogans under the central government and questioned if they brought them back to the Valley to get killed.
 

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The Kashmir Files making resident Kashmiri Pandits feel unsafe

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