KASHMIRI Pandits are continuing their protest in Jammu over the issue of rehabilitation. The Pandit employees are demanding their relocation to Jammu till the time Kashmir Valley is safe for their return. However, the administration wants them to rejoin their duties in the Valley. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said employees who do not work, would not be paid, a statement that has drawn flak from some major politicians and political parties. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that Pandits shouldn’t be forced to go back to the Valley at a time when they faced threat to their lives. “I would say that if there is a threat to even one life, even a dozen offices could be shut,” Dr Jitendra Singh told media in Jammu.
Singh’s opinion was echoed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of Democratic Azad Party, who sought posting of Pandit employeesto Jammu till there was no threat to their lives in Kashmir. The politicians have drawn the line around the safety of Pandit employees. And rightly so.
After targeted killings of the minorities and the migrant labourers over the last three years, Kashmiri Pandits have received fresh threats from the militants. The threat to Pandits follows the one against Kashmiri journalists which led to resignation of about five journalists from their jobs. The Resistance Front (TRF) has asked the Valley’s Hindus to leave the region, saying that non-locals and Kashmiri Hindus were taking away jobs and land in Kashmir. In fact, the list of Kashmiri Pandits, the TRF plans to target is the same one that the government had decided to employ under the prime minister’s scheme.
This has been a source of deep concern for security agencies and also among the people. The disclosure of names is being seen as a big breach of security as questions are being raised as to how the TRF got access to this confidential document. The Jammu and Kashmir police have taken cognizance of the threat and begun an investigation, which hopefully should reveal the truth.
However, the government needs to take the threat very seriously. So far, twenty four people have been killed in Kashmir over the last year, the victims including Kashmiri Pandits, migrant labourers and security personnel returning for holidays to their homes. This has created a fraught situation. According to an estimate, there are around 8000 minority employees including Kashmiri Pandits who are posted in Kashmir. Hence the serious concern expressed by the various political parties including also by Kashmiri Pandit groups is understandable.
Pandit employees are demanding that the government waive off the bond requiring them to remain permanently posted in Kashmir. This has created a tricky situation for the administration which wants all Kashmiri Pandits to return to Kashmir . But may be, we need to wait for it for sometime more. Kashmir has to be made safer before this happens.
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