Migrant Kashmiri Pandits employed under the Prime Minister’s Relief and Rehabilitation Scheme in Kashmir staged a protest on Tuesday against the killing of a female migrant Pandit teacher at Kulgam in south Kashmir and demanded relocation from the region.
The victim was identified as Rajni, wife of Raj Kumar, of Samba district in Jammu. She was taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
Her killing sparked a protest by migrant Kashmiri Pandits at Srinagar’s Indira Nagar. They also blocked the highway at BB Cantt, leading to Jammu.
The protester raised slogans against the killing and demanded justice. They said the government should relocate them to Jammu or any other part of India as they were no longer safe in Kashmir.
“We( migrant Pandits) are being killed regularly inside our offices,’’ said a protester. “We only have one demand—relocate us from Kashmir.”
A female protester said if the government doesn’t accept their demand, all migrant employees will leave Kashmir. “Like in the 1990s, we will en masse leave Kashmir,’’ she said.
The attack created fear in the area, and security forces cordoned off the site after the incident to look for the attackers.
The attacks came after the killing of Rahul Bhat, a migrant Kashmir Pandit working under the Prime Minister’s Relief and Rehabilitation Scheme in Kashmir.
Bhat was shot dead by militants at the tehsil office at Chadoora in Budgam district on May 13.
Bhat's killing sparked protests by migrant Kashmir Pandits working under the PM’s Relief and Rehabilitation Scheme in Kashmir, which are continuing.
The killing evoked condemnation by political leaders and members of civil society.
Around 4,000 migrant Pandits working in Kashmir staged protests at their residential camps like Sheikhpora, Vessu and Ganderbal.
They took to the streets and alleged the government failed to provide them with security. The protesters also staged protests in camps and also took to the streets.
The government took several measures to assuage their concerns, including posting couples at the same place and placing migrant employees in safer locations.
However, the migrant Pandits have rejected the government’s steps and demanded relocation to Jammu or any other place.
Several high-ranking J&K administration officials, including Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, visited the protesting migrant employees to reassure them, but the migrant Pandits have refused to budge.
The latest incident has deepened the crisis and will create more problems for the government to calm the protesting migrant Pandits.
This is the third killing of a migrant employee in Kashmir since October. The first was the killing of a teacher, Deepak Chand, in a school in Srinagar. The principal of the school, Supinder Kour, was also shot.
