Will leave jobs, but won't return to Valley, say Kashmiri Pandits

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, August 16

In the wake of renewed spate of terrorist attacks, mostly on Hindus, in the Valley, the Kashmiri Pandit employees who came to Jammu two or three months ago have said they would prefer to leave their jobs than returning to join their duties and getting killed.

On Tuesday, a Kashmiri Pandit was killed in Shopian. Monday saw two grenade attacks in Srinagar and Budgam, leaving a cop and a man from Hindu community injured.

Migration of Kashmiri Pandit employees had started from Valley mostly after the killing of Rahul Bhat, a revenue clerk in Budgam, on May 12. Their protest began that month, demanding relocation of Hindu employees to Jammu. These Kashmiri Pandits have been employed under the PM’s rehabilitation package. On May 31, killing of a teacher, Rajni Bala, triggered exodus of Dalit employees.

Naveen Pandita, a Pandit employee who has been protesting at the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner’s office in Jammu since June, said his community knew this would again happen. “How can we be safe when we know that terrorists want to repeat the 1989 situation when Hindus were forced to flee. I was a child at that time. Now, I am seeing all that happening once again,” he said, adding, “My parents will not allow me to return. Life is precious than a job.”

Rubon Saproo, a Kashmiri Pandit teacher who also came to Jammu, said the government would not be able to ensure safety even if they return. “Will the government be able to station security at every inch in the Valley to provide safety to minorities?” questions Saproo. “No, they cannot. I know that the government is trying to safeguard the lives of Kashmiri Pandits but the terrorists have decided to oust us from the Valley once again,” laments Saproo.

Even the Kashmir-based reserved category employees, who are protesting in Jammu, say the Valley’s situation is not improving and they cannot afford to lose their lives. One of them, Naresh Bhagat, said a committee was formed to examine the transfer-related issues of the reserved category employees but it didn’t hold even a single meeting with employees.

Demand transfer

Several Hindu employees had fled Kashmir during a spate of killings two-three months ago. Since then, they have been demanding their transfer to Jammu.

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