Shopian (J&K): Hours after the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in the Shopian district of the Union territory, hundreds of members of the community blocked the Jammu-Akhnoor road in the evening to protest the targetted killing. With many among the crowd employed under Prime Minister's employment package, members of the crowd alleged that they were being coerced to take up employment in the Valley, without any care for their well-being.
Our worst fears have once again come true with the latest killing. We have already fled the valley otherwise we feel many of us would have been done to death, one of the protesters, Nikhil Koul, said.
Terming the administration's move of introducing biometric attendance and stopping salaries a 'death warrant', Yogesh Pandit, another protester, said the administration was trying to pressurize them.
The protests have continued near the relief commissioner's office in Jammu for the last five months, ever since the killing of Rahul Bhat - a clerk appointed under the scheme - on May 12 in the Chadoora area of Budgam district.
Puran Kishan Bhat, a member of the Kashmiri Pandit community, was killed in a similar targeted attack on Saturday in Jammu Kashmir's Shopian district. He succumbed to his injuries in the Shopian District Hospital while undergoing treatment.
The attack took place while Bhat was on his way to an orchard in his village, Chowdrygund, Kashmir Zone police said in a tweet. The area in question was cordoned off and a search operation was in progress, they further said.
This marks the third such attack on a member of the community since August when one Kashmiri Pandit was killed while his brother was injured after they were shot at similarly at an apple orchard in the same district. In September, too, a person was killed in a similar fashion.
Reacting to the incident, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said, "Attack on Puran Krishan Bhat by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I assure the people that the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists will be severely punished."
Also read: Kashmiri Pandit shot dead, brother injured in militant attack in Shopian
"Another reprehensible attack. I unequivocally condemn this attack in which Pooran Krishan Bhat lost his life. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family. May Pooran Ji's soul rests in peace," former J&K CM and National Conference Chief Omar Abdullah tweeted.
"While KP's have been protesting for the last 5 months demanding relocation after Rahul Bhat's killing, LG admin in their hubris kept turning a blind eye to their plight. Today yet another KP, Puran Krishan was shot dead in Shopian. Thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family," said Jammu Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party.
Following the August attack, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, an organization representing the group, urged all members to leave the valley. "With another deadly attack on Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir, the terrorists have made it clear that they are going to kill all the Pandits in the valley," the chief of the organization, Sanjay Tickoo, had said in a statement shortly after the incident.
He had further observed that the Union Territory was a place where 'tourists are safe', adding, however, that 'non-Muslims, especially Kashmiri Pandits, are vulnerable". The responsibility for the August attack was claimed by 'Kashmir Freedom Fighters, a group affiliated with the Al Badr terrorist outfit.
The Union Government, meanwhile, had noted in Rajya Sabha earlier this year that at least six such targetted killings of Kashmiri Pandits had been carried out between 2020 and July 2022.
