Srinagar, June 04, 2022 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, amid a growing demand from Kashmiri Pandit employees to shift them to Jammu region after a series of targeted killings, the authorities have said that the employees will not be moved out of the Valley but transferred to safer locations.
Officials said the recent escalation in targeted killings would not lead to any change in plans for holding the annual Hindu pilgrimage, the Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled from June 30-August 11.
The Kashmiri Pandit employees are demanding their transfer to Jammu region after a series of killings, including that of their fellow community members, Rahul Bhat and Rajni Bala, in the Kashmir valley.
Rahul Bhat was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Chadoora area of Badgam district on May 12, 2022. Since his killing, scores of Kashmiri Pandits have been staging protests threatening mass exodus. Bhat’s killing sparked demonstrations by around 6,000 employees at various places who demanded their relocation outside the Kashmir Valley.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS), an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, has moved the IIOJK High Court seeking directions to the authorities to shift all the religious minorities to safer locations outside the Valley. The KPSS in a representation to the Chief Justice informed that the authorities are not allowing them to leave the valley. In the petition, the body said that the IIOJK authorities and the Indian government have failed to secure the life of religious minorities staying in the Kashmir Valley.
The KPSS is a group of 808 families living in 272 villages of Kashmir. The group didn’t leave the Kashmir Valley even in 1990s when IIOJK was on the boil following a massive operation launched by the-then communal Governor, Jagmohan Malhotra to victimize the Kashmiri Muslims for challenging Indian illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. It is headed by Sanjay Tickoo.
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