Kashmiri Pandits in panic after targeted attacks

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, April 6

With four non-local workers and a Kashmiri Pandit being shot at over the last four days, the rise in targeted attacks is again causing fear among minority community members in Kashmir.

Also read: Rai: Minority killings in Kashmir peaked in 2021

The motive appeared to be to drive non-local workers and Kashmiri Pandits out of the Valley, said sources. Barring the Kashmir Pandit, Bal Krishan, who received four bullets around his chest after being attacked at his chemist store in Chotigam (Shopian), the other injured were shot at below the abdomen.

“The militants are now firing at non-locals on their legs, unlike last year when they killed them, inviting massive public condemnation. The pattern of attacks is to create fear and drive them out of Kashmir,” a senior security official said.

Bal Krishan’s brother Anil Kumar Bhat (32) said his father’s decision to stay back in Kashmir was costing

them dear. “We are suffering because of one wrong decision. Had we left in the 1990s, we would have got good jobs and other social benefits from the government,” he said. Anil  said once his brother was discharged from hospital, they would have to rethink on staying back. “In such a tense situation, we won’t be able to open our shops or work in our orchards,” he said. After the attack, the authorities have provided security to the two Pandit families living in Chotigam. IGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said security forces had also started night patrolling in areas inhabited by migrant labourers. Anil, however, said policemen could guard his house, but not him. “If I have to live here, I have to go to my apple orchards, market, hospital, etc. How can I take these policemen along everywhere,” he said, likening the present situation to the one in the 1990s when pro-India minority Hindus had to leave the Valley.

More than 10 non-locals and Kashmiri Pandits were killed last year by militants amid fears of a demographic change among the Muslim-majority population. “In such circumstances, how can we send our children to school? Who will guarantee their safety?” asked Anil.

In the 1990s, nearly 800 Pandit families had decided to stay back. Official estimates reveal that 3,800 Pandits have returned and taken up government jobs under a special Central package and are living in guarded accommodations across Kashmir.

The police attribute the targeted attacks to frustration among militant ranks.

“Between December 2021 and March this year, the police have killed 66 militants of JeM and LeT, leading to frustration among militants who were now attacking soft targets,” said IGP Kumar.