‘Terrorists opened doors of hell’: Kin mourn pharmacist
SRINAGAR: Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Srinagar chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo on Wednesday, a day after the 68-year-old was shot by suspected militants near his medicine shop at Iqbal Park. Many in the Kashmiri Pandit community in the Valley called the killing a direct consequence of the 2019 nullification of Article 370 and demanded that this major lapse of security not go unpunished.
Bindroo, a reputable chemist and philanthropist from Srinagar, was grievously injured in the shooting on Tuesday and was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
The Bindroos stayed back in the Valley even as most Kashmiri Pandits left in the 1990s. ML Bindroo is survived by his
widow, son Siddharth, and daughter Shraddha, who is an associate professor in Himachal Pradesh.
She challenged her father’s killers to a debate. “Mister, who shot my father while he was working, if you have the guts and courage, come in front and have a face-to-face debate. Then we will see what you are. Only then you will realise that you can only pelt stones or shoot from behind .... ,” Shraddha said
“The person responsible for the crime has opened doors of hell for himself,” she said.
Pandit groups said the system failed them. Sanjay Tickoo, president of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, said, “There were intel inputs that some prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessmen were on terrorists’ radar. Why did they fail to protect us?”
Apart from Bindroo, two others were killed on Tuesday — a street vendor from Bhagalpur (Bihar) named Virender Paswan was shot dead in Srinagar, while a taxi driver and president of the taxi stand at Bandipora named Mohd Shafi Lone was also killed by unknown assailants.
SRINAGAR: Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Srinagar chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo on Wednesday, a day after the 68-year-old was shot by suspected militants near his medicine shop at Iqbal Park. Many in the Kashmiri Pandit community in the Valley called the killing a direct consequence of the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 and demanded that heads roll for this major lapse of security.
Bindroo, a reputable chemist and philanthropist from Srinagar, was grievously injured in the shooting on Tuesday and was taken to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. Virender Paswan (a street vendor) and Mohammad Shafi Lone (head of a local taxi stand) were also shot dead by the gunmen.
At Bindroo’s residence in Indira Nagar on Wednesday, many prominent Kashmiris called on the family, including National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari, and Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattoo. Abdullah offered condolences to Dr Siddharth Bindroo, the son of Makhan Lal Bindroo, with moist eyes and said, “Don’t go. Just stay here and continue your father’s job.”
Later, he told mediapersons that Bindroo was a good person who was “killed by the devils”.
“When people were running away from here, he did not migrate. He stayed put, saying that he had to serve the poor. He would offer medicines for free to the poor and helped them in every way,” Abdullah said.
Srinagar Mayor said the road from Haft Chinar Chowk to Jehangir Chowk, where Bindroo’s shop, Bindroo Medicate is located, will be named ‘Shaheed Makhan Lal Bindroo Road’ as a tribute to his contributions.
But Bindroo wasn’t the only person killed on Tuesday; in two other incidents, a street vendor from Bhagalpur (Bihar) named Virender Paswan was shot dead at Alamgari Bazar in Zadibal, while a taxi driver and president of the local taxi stand at Bandipora, Mohd Shafi Lone, was also killed by unknown assailants.
‘You can just kill the body’
The Bindroos stayed back in the Valley even as Kashmiri Pandits began their exodus in the 1990s. ML Bindroo is survived by his widow, son Dr Siddharth, and daughter Dr Shraddha. Shraddha, an associate professor in Himachal Pradesh, challenged her father’s killers to a debate.
“Mister, who shot my father while he was working, if you have the guts and courage, come in front and have a face-to-face debate .... Person responsible for the crime has opened doors of hell for himself,” she said.
“He [Bindroo] will never die. You can just kill the body. And I being a Hindu I have read the Quran which says that the body will transform but its spirit will remain. ML Bindroo will remain alive in spirit,” Shraddha said.
Siddharth, a diabetologist practising in Srinagar, said his father was a man of principles and never did anything unethical. He said his father gave his four decades to the service of Kashmir without expecting anything in return. “Condolences are coming from people from all walks of life. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, everybody is here,” Siddharth said.
‘System failed us’
Sanjay Tickoo, president of Srinagar-based Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti said the attack was a direct assault on the 808 Kashmiri Pandit families living in Kashmir. “From June, we had a hunch that something might happen. We tried to meet the lieutenant governor but got no appointment. There were intel inputs that some prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessmen or other Hindus were on terrorists’ radar. Then why did they fail to protect us? It is a failure of the system, and we demand that heads roll,” Tickoo said.
But senior Bharatiya Janata Party member and leader of the migrant Kashmiri Pandit community in Jammu, Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, blamed it on the security forces and said there was no link between the incident and the ending of the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two Union territories.
“What has happened has been happening for the last 30 years continuously,” Chrungoo said.