Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday expressed concern about the "targeted killings of Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits" in the Kashmir Valley. Kashmiri Pandits were fleeing the Valley, Thackeray, who also heads the Shiv Sena, said in a statement. "Kashmiri Pandits were shown the dream of 'ghar vapasi' [resettlement in the Valley], but they are being targeted and killed. The exodus of Pandits is shocking," he said.
The chief minister assured the Pandit community that "Maharashtra is firmly behind them". In 1995, when the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition came to power in Maharashtra, Sena founder Bal Thackeray ensured a quota in educational institutes in the state for the children of Kashmiri Pandits, he noted. "Our government is in touch with Kashmiri Pandit leaders and will do everything it can for their protection," Thackeray further said.
The security of Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting on Friday chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who took stock of the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was convened in the wake of eight targeted killings by terror groups especially Lashker-e-Taiba in the Kashmir Valley whose victims included non-Muslims, security personnel, an artist and local civilians.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha were among those who attended the meeting. The home minister reviewed the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with special focus on protection of Kashmiri Pandits living in the valley.
Scores of Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists on May 12 in the Chadoora area of Budgam district in central Kashmir. Bhat's killing sparked demonstration by around 6,000 employees at various places who demanded their relocation outside the Valley. The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday made it clear the employees would not be moved out of the Valley but transferred to safer locations.
The recent escalation in targeted terrorist violence would not lead to any change in plans for holding the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled from June 30-August 11.
