Kashmiri Pandits to be shifted to safety as families flee

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, June 1

Nearly 175 Hindu families have fled Kashmir in a day as panic gripped employees from the minority communities after a woman Dalit teacher was shot dead by militants in south Kashmir on Tuesday. Employees belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Kashmir joined the protests by Kashmiri Pandits, seeking relocation to Jammu.

Editorial: Kashmir killings: Amid fear and panic, ensure sense of security

Militants on Tuesday shot dead Rajni Bala, 36, at her school in Kulgam district, making it the seventh case of targeted killing in the Valley last month. Avtar Krishan Bhat, a teacher at a government school in Baramulla, said: “We have 350 families of migrant employees in Baramulla and 50 per cent of them left for Jammu since Tuesday.” 

“We have kept trucks on standby because we may have to leave anytime. The targeted killings have shocked us and we want the government to relocate us immediately,” Bhat told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, the J&K administration has decided to post all 4,500 Kashmiri Pandit employees working under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package (PMRP) at secured locations by June 6.

“All employees from the minority communities posted in Kashmir will be posted at secured locations and the process will be completed by June 6,” an official said. Employees had yesterday threatened to leave the Valley if they were not relocated within 24 hours. The killing of Rajni Bala has shocked the SC employees posted in Kashmir. We are facing threat to our lives in the light of Rajni Bala’s killing,” reads a letter submitted by the SC employees before the Director, Education, Kashmir. At least 16 killings have taken place this year.