Kashmiri Pandits protest outside Raj Bhavan for relocation, release of salaries

Jammu, February 13

Protesting for over eight months following targeted killings by terrorists, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit (KP) employees, appointed under the PM employment package, along with reserved category staffers, staged a massive separate sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan on Monday. They have been demanding their relocation out of the Valley and also release of their pending salaries in view of the ‘Maha Shivratri’ festival, being observed later this week.

Death threat in kashmir

We are hesitant to return to the Valley due to the fear of being killed. We will return to perform our duties only in a tension-free atmosphere. Suman, a protester

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Not willing to return

A few hundred employees have resumed their duties under compulsion. Many of them were not willing to return due to insecurity. Rohit Raina, a protester

Scores of Pandit employees and Jammu-based reserved category employees had shifted to Jammu in May last year following the killing of their colleagues, Rahul Bhat and Rajni Bala, by terrorists. While Bhat was shot dead inside his office in Budgam district on May 12, Bala, a schoolteacher, was gunned down in Kulgam district on May 31 last year.

On February 4, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said many employees had resumed their duties in the Valley and directions had been issued to release their pending salaries without delay.

Among the protesters was Rohit Raina, who said, “We have been on strike for the last 280 days in support of our demand for relocation outside the Valley. Our biggest festival, Maha Shivratri, is round the corner and we demand that our pending salaries be released immediately.” He claimed that only a few hundred of the PM package employees had resumed their duties under compulsion, while many of them were not willing to return due to a “insecurity”. “We want the government to relocate us and utilise our services in Jammu. We are ready to perform our duties,” he said.

Suman, another protester, said they were hesitant to return to the Valley due to the fear of being killed. “Relocate us to Jammu till you make Kashmir terrorism-free. We will return without a second thought to perform our duties in a tension-free atmosphere.”

Separately, hundreds of reserved category employees, hailing from different districts of the Jammu region, also staged a sit-in outside the Press Club on the 258th day of their strike. “Our only demand is transfer policy for the reserved category employees numbering over 3,000,” said one of the protesters, Yashpaul Sharma. He said they would continue their protest and won’t return to Kashmir in view of their security concerns. “We are ready to serve anywhere in the Jammu region,” he added. — PTI

Salaries of agitators stopped

• Kashmiri Pandit and reserved category employees have been protesting for around 8-9 months in Jammu, demanding relocation.
• They had fled the Valley after terrorists gunned down a few employees last year. The administration had stopped salaries of those on strike.