Kulgam residents shocked over killing of a minority community member

A pall of gloom descended on Kakran village in south Kashmir's Kulgam district after suspected militants shot dead a local driver Satish Kumar Singh at his residence late on Wednesday evening. Dozens of local Muslims immersed in pain and gloom waited for Singh's body to arrive from a Srinagar hospital.

Kulgam: A pall of gloom descended on Kakran village in south Kashmir's Kulgam district after suspected militants shot dead a local driver Satish Kumar Singh at his residence late on Wednesday evening. Dozens of local Muslims painfully waited for Singh's body to arrive from a Srinagar hospital.

On Wednesday evening, unidentified gunmen opened fire at Satish, a Rajput Hindu, who has been residing in the area for decades. Around 15 families of Rajput Hindus reside in the village. Unlike Kashmiri Pandits, who left Kashmir en masse in 1989 after the eruption of militancy, most of the Rajput Hindus decided to stay put.

Singh was immediately shifted to Kulgam hospital but with a grievous injury in the head, the doctors shifted him to Srinagar for further treatment. However, late into the night, he succumbed to his injuries at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura. Singh was a driver by profession and lived modestly with his wife and three children, one of them physically challenged.

Gul Muhammad Hajam, a local resident said that he was shocked to know about the violent incident. "We are living here together with amity for generations. Never has any such incident occurred. This is shocking for us. It should not have happened," he told ETV Bharat. Another villager said that we found him in a pool of blood. "He (Satish) was innocent. Look at his house and small children. We are in gloom. We don't know who did it but it is highly condemnable," he said.

Hilal Ahmad, another villager said that Satish was shot at on iftar (breaking fast) time. "The area was cordoned off immediately. We don't know who killers are. We appeal to LG administration and Chief Secretary that such incidents should not occur. We want to live. We must be allowed to live. Such incidents are condemnable," he said.

Suspected militants carried out a series of attacks on persons belonging to the minority community and non-local labourers. On April 4, unidentified gunmen shot at and injured Amit Kumar Bhat alias Baalji at his shop in Chotipora village of Shopian. He is now recuperating at Army's Base Hospital in Srinagar. On Monday, the authorities disallowed former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to visit the family of an injured person who belongs to the Pandit community.