Facing relentless purported online threats from The Resistance Force (TRF) militant outfit in Kashmir, migrant Pandit employees, who had opted Valley postings in the past one decade, on Friday staged a demonstration outside the BJP headquarters in Jammu and expressed unhappiness over Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s recent statement asking them to join duty.
Scores of migrant Pandits and Hindu employees posted in the Kashmir Valley under reserved categories raised slogans outside the BJP office in Jammu. They were demanding relocation of Pandit and reserved category employees to Jammu till the situation in Kashmir is brought “under complete control”.
Agnishekhar, a prominent Pandit leader, accused the L-G administration of “using Pandits as a sacrificial goat”. “There are target attack survivors protesting today. Will L-G wish to see her daughter posted in Kashmir? Does any district commissioner or district magistrate move around in Kashmir without security?” Mr. Agnishekhar, while referring to the latest threats from the TRF, said.
‘Failure of security’
“Pandits leaving Kashmir reflects a failure of security. These employees should be allowed to serve in Jammu till the situation improves there [in Kashmir]. They are not protesting here to have a salary sitting at home. They want to serve in Jammu,” Mr. Agnishekhar said.
Mr. Sinha recently asked the Pandit employees to return to their duties in Kashmir and warned that salaries cannot be paid to protesting Pandit employees while they were sitting at home.
A majority of around 5,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees, who had returned to Kashmir under a special employment package introduced by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, left the Valley in May this year following a spree of killings carried out by militants affiliated to the TRF. Since then the employees refused to join duties despite the L-G administration’s measures to post them in groups in district headquarters and upgrading security in places where Pandit transit camps are located.
Meanwhile, fresh threats and the list of Pandit employees posted in Kashmir again surfaced online this month from the TRF, fuelling fresh scare among these employees. In these threats, the militant outfit warned that it “won’t allow Israel type settlements and deal harshly”.
“It’s a matter of shame that these [TRF] people have stooped to such a level. They can’t tolerate Jammu and Kashmir’s development and want to challenge it but people will give them a befitting reply,” Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
‘Backbone broken’
On the latest threats to the BJP leaders by the TRF, Srinagar-based BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur said, “These threats should be treated as jokes now. The backbone of the TRF and the Lashkar-e-Taiba [LeT] has been broken and they stand decimated. This is just an attempt to attack the communal harmony of Kashmir.”
However, BJP State president Ravinder Raina, who met protesting Pandits in Jammu, appealed to L-G Sinha to invite the protesters to the Raj Bhawan and give them an audience.
“L-G Sinha has a big heart and has been a politician himself. Babus in Kashmir may not be able to understand their pain properly. L-G sahib should listen to these people and the ground realities. I assure you [Pandits] I will not allow you to become scapegoats,” Mr. Raina said.
He said if the need arises, he will lead a delegation of Pandits to Delhi to address their issues.
