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Shopian killing | Angry Kashmiri Pandits block Jammu-Akhnoor road in protest
Stating that their worst fears have come true yet again, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits, employed under PM’s employment package in Kashmir reiterated their demand for relocating Pandit employees to Jammu in wake of the unabated selective killings of members of their community in the Valley
Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits, employed under PM’s employment package in Kashmir, blocked Jammu-Akhnoor road on Saturday, against Puran Krishan’s killing in Shopian.
Stating that their worst fears have come true yet again, they reiterated their demand for relocating Pandit employees to Jammu in wake of the unabated selective killings of members of their community in the Valley.
The PM package employees have been on protest for the last five months at the relief commissioner’s office on Canal Road, seeking relocation. They had started their stir in wake of the killing of their colleague Rahul Bhat last May.
“Our worst fears have once again come true with the latest killing. We have already fled the valley, otherwise many of us would have been done to death,” said Nikhil Kaul, one of the protesters.
He said they have been repeatedly urging the government to shift them but to no avail.
Yogesh Pandit, another protester, said the administration is trying to pressure them to rejoin their duties by issuing “death warrants” in the form of making biometric attendance mandatory and stopping their salaries.
“The killing of Bhat exposed the government claims about the improved security situation in the valley. We will not return till the situation becomes normal in true sense,” he said.
Pandit said they have tried to reach the government through memorandums and protests for their relocation from the valley following the series of targeted killings over the past one year.
“This government is deaf, dumb and blind,” the agitated Pandit said, asking what was their fault for which they are being brutally killed by terrorists.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal activists, led by their president Rakesh Bajrangi, also joined the protesters and set ablaze an effigy of Pakistan to condemn the frequent targeted killings by terrorists in the Valley.
