Kashmiri Pandit employees fearful after terrorist attack in Srinagar

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, February 8

A day after the targeted attack on members of minority communities in Srinagar, fear has gripped the Kashmiri Pandit employees working in different areas of the Valley.

The employees, who have faced such targeted killings in the past few years, suspect that this might be the beginning of another spree of killings which occurred even in 2022 when many members of minority community were targeted by terrorists. There are over 5,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees working in Kashmir who have been employed under the special PM package since 2010.

Sitting ducks

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We are sitting ducks and an experiment tool for the Central Government that is not able to protect the minority community. —A Kashmiri Pandit teacher

Targeted in 2022 too

Many members of the minority community were shot dead across the Valley in 2022. Fresh attacks have instilled fear in us. —A government employee

Whenever a targeted attack takes place, the members of the community are left without any hope. Many members of the Dalit community from Jammu working in Kashmir, who were employed under district recruitment policy years ago, are also worried about the developing situation.

A Kashmiri Pandit teacher, employed in Kashmir who doesn’t want to identify his precise location, said, “We are sitting ducks and an experiment tool for the Central Government that is not able to protect the minority community despite its tall claims of normalcy. Is this normalcy when terrorists kill anyone at their whims?” Another employee said many members of the minority community, including Pandits and reserved category employees, were shot dead in Kashmir in 2022.

“We demanded from the government to shift us to safer places in Jammu region but they assured us safety and security. The renewed targeted attacks have instilled fear in the community members,” he said.

Meanwhile, a reserved category employee said the staffers belonging to minority community in different departments of the government are keeping a watch on the situation and will not think twice before migrating to Jammu if the situation goes out of control like it did in 2022.

“We cannot be an experiment tool for the government. A transfer policy should immediately be implemented and we should be transferred to Jammu,” he said.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday released figures stating that there were 46 terrorists incidents in J&K last year. As many as 48 encounters took place during the year while 14 civilians were killed. A total of 30 security personnel were killed as per records and 73 terrorists were also shot dead.