Kashmiri Pandits’ stir grows over terror hits
Union home minister Amit Shah will chair a meeting on June 3 to discuss the situation in J&K with the LG, others
SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Several Kashmiri Pandits who were given jobs under a package by the Centre protested against a series of targeted killings of non-Muslim civilians on Wednesday.
The terror killing of Rajni Bala, a woman schoolteacher from Jammu who was shot dead on campus at Gopalpora in Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday, triggered renewed protests by Kashmiri Pandit employees, who have been agitating for relocation since last month’s killing of Rahul Bhat, a government employee posted at Chadoora in Budgam.
Union home minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level meeting on June 3 to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with the lieutenant governor and others, an official said in New Delhi.
Special cell for grievance redressal
“In addition to a special cell within the LG secretariat, the General Administrative Department will also have a dedicated email ID for complaints and grievance redressal. There is a need to sensitise the lower rung officials in every department to take up such matter/complaints seriously and on the priority,” the Raj Bhawan official added.
A group of Kashmiri Pandit employees said they would be forced to move out of the Union territory if the targeted killings continued.
The group said it was meeting truck owners Wednesday to negotiate a rate for transporting their goods.
“We have come to fix the rate with truck owners. Let’s see if any decision comes from the government…,” one of their representatives said on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, a 25-member delegation representing the Kashmiri Pandit employees met J&K LG Sinha and other top government officials in Srinagar. The delegation demanded safety measures for migrant employees in the region.
Confined to transit camps, allege KP staffers
A day after her killing, Kashmiri Pandits working in the Valley as government employees largely remained confined to their transit camps and localities. Additional security personnel were deployed around such camps, with from of the employees saying that they were not allowed to venture out of the facilities.
“Even in these localities, we are continuing our dharna…,” Sandeep Kumar, an office bearer of the Migrant Employee Association said, adding that protests will continue till their demands of safety are met. “We want relocation and nothing else,” he added.
Another migrant employee, Anil Kumar, said: “After the fresh killings, majority of the employees and their families don’t want to stay in Kashmir due to security concerns.”
Inspector General of Police Kashmir Vijay Kumar denied that any protester was detained on Wednesday.