The valley is witnessing the exodus of Kashmiri pandits again after a gap of 32 years.
Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), a prominent pandits¡¯ body in the valley, has said that 17 families of Kashmiri pandits have left their homes in south Kashmir since May amid a series of targeted militant attacks on the communities.
¡°At least nine non-migrant Kashmiri pandit families on October 24th relocated from Shopian district in the valley to Jammu after a pandit farmer was killed by militants in the district on October 15,¡± the Kashmiri pandits¡¯ group said.
The deceased was identified as Puran Krishan, a fruit grower who owned a dairy business and was shot from close range near his house.
Puran is the third Kashmiri pandit and sixth person from the minority community to be killed by militants in Kashmir this year.
It is pertinent to mention here that there are 808 non-migrant pandit families (according to the 2009 Census) in Kashmir, most of whom live in abject poverty and their children primarily unemployed.
Braving three decades of militancy, non-migrant Kashmiri pandits who didn¡¯t leave the valley in 1989 say they are now forced to leave.
The deceased Puran¡¯s brother Ashwani Kumar Bhat had told the media that they had migrated from there.
¡°I will never return. I swear by my children, I will not return till the last breath of my life,¡± he said.
Pointing towards his children, he said neither he would return to Kashmir nor allow his children to go there. ¡°I have one hundred kanals (five hectares) of land there, but I will never go back. Will I go there to die?¡± he asked.
Bhat, who saw his brother dying before his eyes, said he would quit his government job but would not return. ¡°I do not need anything,¡± he said.
President KPSS Sanjay Tickoo said that Kashmiri pandits are feeling insecure here now.
¡°The government has failed to ensure the security of our community despite the targeted killings. Nothing has changed for us despite the abrogation of Article 370. In fact, the situation has become more vulnerable now,¡± he told?Indiatimes.
¡°A sense of insecurity could be something that is forcing the community members to relocate from the valley,¡± he said.
Kashmiri pandit employees recruited in government services per the Prime Minister¡¯s job scheme in the valley have been continuously absent from work in protest against the targeted killings by militants.
The staffers have been demanding relocation to Jammu since May 12 after a Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat was killed by militants inside a government office in central Kashmir¡¯s Budgam district.?
About 5,500 staffers have been urging the government for relocation, citing danger to their lives.
The employees have rejected the government¡¯s decision to shift them to district and tehsil headquarters within the valley and are sticking to their demand for relocation to Jammu only.
Among the protesting employees, Rajni said it is better to die of hunger in Jammu than get killed by the bullets of terrorists.
¡°Transfer us anywhere outside Kashmir. It is unsafe for us,¡± she said.
In June this year, the government reportedly said that a Kashmiri pandit employee, recruited under a special drive, was not eligible for transfer outside the valley ¡°under any circumstances.¡±
But on July 31, the J&K administration transferred five employees from Kashmir to Jammu, a step which was welcomed by the community.
Kashmiri pandits and Muslims have shared a close bond in the valley for years.
The southern part of Kashmir, with a good population of Kashmiri pandits, mostly witnessed such communal harmony.
In September this year, local Muslims in the Shopian district helped perform the last rites of a 75-year-old Kashmiri pandit lady.
In May, Muslims performed the last rites of an 80-year-old Kashmiri pandit woman in south Kashmir¡¯s Kulgam district.
Raj Kumar Dhar, the owner of a top medical store in the valley - Dhar Brothers, said they have always shared cordial relations with the Muslim community.
¡°We attend all their ritual ceremonies whether it is happiness or sorrow. They, too, attend ours,¡± he said.
Authorities in south Kashmir¡¯s Shopian district on October 27 said that no exodus of Kashmiri pandits has taken place in the district.
The Information and Public Relations department of Shopian claimed that the news about the leaving of ¡°Kashmiri non-migrant Hindu population¡± was baseless.
In July this year, junior Home Minister Nityanand Rai told Parliament pointing to data showing all 6,514 of them are still residing there. He had claimed no Kashmiri Pandit migrated from the valley since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
People¡¯s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that pandits are forced to flee when BJP is governing at the centre.
¡°Since 2019, the Kashmiri pandits are again facing targeted killings. In Shopian and other places, the pandits, who have been here for the past 30 years, are fleeing,¡± Mufti said in a statement.
National Conference (NC) party vice-president Omar Abdullah had alleged that the government has miserably failed in restoring normalcy in Kashmir, owing to which the Kashmiri Pandits and PM package employees had no option but to lock their houses and leave for Jammu.
Apni Party (AP) President Altaf Bukhari termed the killing of a Kashmiri pandit in Shopian in October as the murder of entire humanity.
He said that such cowardice and brutal act bring a bad name to the entire Muslim community of Kashmir.