'Rerun of 1990s, govt has failed to protect us'

Jammu, June 4

Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees who fled the Valley after a spate of targeted killings say this is another exodus being faced by the community members.

“We are being killed one after another with no one there to protect us. We have lost all hope,” says Rajat Raina, a schoolteacher who has returned to Jammu. He says they shifted to Kashmir and took up jobs under the PM’s Rehabilitation Package, but little did they know they would have to face a similar situation as their parents did in the 1990s. The government’s promise of providing us adequate security has proven hollow,” says another employee.

Carve out separate UT

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Pandits can be rehabilitated only when a separate UT is carved out of Kashmir exclusively for us. —Kuldeep Raina, Panun Kashmir Gen Secy

Fearing for their life, Kashmiri Pandit employees have been returning to Jammu in hordes. They are putting up in Jagti township, Roop Nagar, Muthi, Barnai and other parts of the city.

Rubin Saproo, another teacher who has returned to his Roop Nagar house here, says the Pandit community is facing a bleak future. “Now, we either lose our jobs or our lives. The government has not been able to protect us. What it can now do is transfer us to Jammu,” says Saproo. Rakesh Pandita, another Pandit employee staying at the Veervan transit camp in Baramulla along with 40 other families, says they have stopped going to work. “We are safe inside the transit camp but fear going to work,” laments Pandita.

Kuldeep Raina, general secretary of the Panun Kashmir, an organisation fighting for a homeland for Pandits, says the exodus never stopped. “The government tried to settle Pandits in the Valley by providing employment but to no avail. Pandits can be rehabilitated only if a separate UT is carved out of Kashmir,” Raina added.