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Terror attacks revive memories of 1990s exodus; Shah reviews security in J&K
At least two zonal education offices put out notices asking Kashmiri Pandit teachers who were offered jobs under a Union government scheme to stay in the transit camp in Kheer Bhawani Temple in Ganderbal district
Terror attacks targeting minorities and non-locals in the Kashmir Valley have revived memories of the mass exodus of minority communities that took place in the early 1990s when targeted killings of civilians were carried out with the onset of terrorism in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir -- prompting security agencies and the Union home ministry to take note.
On Thursday after terrorists shot dead two school teachers Satinder Kour and Deepak Chand in the Valley, at least two zonal education offices put out notices asking Kashmiri Pandit teachers who were offered jobs under a Union government scheme to stay in the transit camp in Kheer Bhawani Temple in Ganderbal district. HT has reviewed the notice issued by the Ganderbal district office; it specifies that these teachers, who sought security following Thursday’s killings, should stay in the temple complex till further orders.
“We are scared; government or security authorities have not reached out to us. Most of the people who live in transit camps or rented accommodation have no security and therefore, we have decided to leave for Jammu,” said a Kashmiri Pandit government employee in Anantnag. There are approximately 1,500 employees from Sikh and Pandit communities who were given jobs under the package in Anantnag alone.
A second Pandit family also confirmed that they had sought leave of absence from work and were planning to leave the Valley. “For the past 12 years the government has not even made arrangements for proper housing for the employees who were given jobs under the package; we live in rented accommodation and are sitting ducks,” one member of this family said.
Tuesday’s killing of ML Bindroo, a prominent member of the KP community who ran a pharmacy in the valley has exacerbated fear among the minority community. A street vendor from Bihar, Virendra Paswan and a local resident of Bandipora, Mohammad Shafi Lone, who was the president of the Taxi Association were also killed on Tuesday.
“The pattern is the same, just as minority community leaders were accused of being informers in the 1990s, they are again being accused of working for the agencies. Since, no security arrangements have been made, I believe about 100 odd families will move out of the Valley by tomorrow,” said Sanjay Tickoo of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti.
Following the killings, security agencies have gone into a huddle and a series of meetings have taken place in Delhi and the newly created Union territory.
Union home minister Amit Shah is learnt to have deliberated upon the issue on Thursday at North Block during a regular security review meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau chief Aravind Kumar, and Kuldiep Singh and Pankaj Kumar Singh , director generals of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) respectively.
A senior government officer said on condition of anonymity that intelligence and security agencies responsible for Jammu and Kashmir have been asked to ensure that civilians are not targeted and persons responsible for these attacks are traced and punished.
Later, the IB chief had separate meetings with senior officials in Kashmir, a second officer told HT.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has taken responsibility of the attacks and intelligence agencies believe there could be more such attacks with Pakistan-backed groups wanting to create disturbance in the valley.
J&K director general of police Dilbag Singh said that “the recent incidents of targeting civilians are to create an atmosphere of fear and communal disharmony here. There is a conspiracy to target the local ethos and values and defame local Kashmiri Muslims. This is being done on the instructions from agencies in Pakistan. I am sure we will find those behind these incidents very soon”.
Security agencies say there have been close over 20 civilian killings in the Valley this year and about 37 the previous year.
Security agencies also claim that there has been a massive crackdown on terror groups. According to them, there were 52 terrorists of local origin active in J&K from January 2021 of which 20 were killed and 13 were arrested within a month of their joining. “Thirteen were killed within two months of joining and 9 got arrested. In the third month of their joining, three were killed in an encounter and 1 was arrested…Their count is decreasing day by day; the life span of those joining terror groups is just about a month or two,” said an officer at a security agency who asked not to be named.
