Insecurity Among Kashmiri Pandits Rising, Leaving Valley Will Be 'Disastrous': BJP Tells Lt Gov Sinha

The BJP’s memorandum to LG comes days after the killing of Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit government employee, which has sparked protests by community members. He was shot dead in his office in Budgam district. 
  
The memorandum read, “The sense of insecurity is increasing high among Kashmiri Pandits employed under the prime minister's package duꦰe to chain of killings of Hindus in valley during the past over a year. Repeated assurances were given to them at each time the killing of any Hindu took place that it won't be repeated. And Rahul Bhat's killing in a busy government office in broad daylight by terrorists has shattered them."

The BJP said Pandit employees, who protested Bhat’s killing, faced batons and teargas shelling instead of getting a sense of security by the a💧dministration of the Union Territory.

It said, “Some of them were in🔥jured and a video of which went viral resulting in anti-BJP and anti-Modi ji sloganeering by them, which was seen for the first time in the past three decades in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP said th𝓡at on Friday, the administration locked gates of the transit complexes housing Kashmiri Pandit employees and their families, “denying” the movement to marketsꦏ to get food, vegetables and milk and, as per their grievances, they could not send their children to school.

The BJP said, “They are not bonded labourers brought here. What happened in the day was a protest and [they] clashed with police to open gates. It was heating touch instead of confidence building measure, they alleged. The alienation drew them [to] raise anti-Modi ji and anti-BJP slogans during protests in Jammu, Srinagar, Baramulla-K💃upwara, Vessu, Mattan and outside the UT."

The party said it was because of this treatment given by the administration that the employees🐻 want to leave the Valley, which will be a “disastrous step” and a “black spot” on the initiatives of the government.

The BJP said, “Despite sitting on dharna, neither the administration officials nor head of UT, the KPs say, has rea𓆉ched to them to give them a sense of c��onfidence and assurance. They [KP employees] are hell bent [on] mass resignation.”

The BJP said the minority Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs are “losing confidence” as they say the lower and middle section bureaucracy and officialdom has the 🌟same eco-system as that of the previous period.

During the Congress rule, the party said, when the special employment policy was framed, a "bond to serve in Kashmir till retir🅷ement" was made the main condition to getting employment.

“This clause is in violation of the Constitution of India and a grave human rights violation meant tღo give them baꦯd sense of being 'bonded labourer' [and] not an employee,” the memorandum said. 

Saying there was an urgent need for reaching out to the protesting employees by the Lt Gov in order to provide them a sens🎀e of security, confidence and belongin꧋gness, the party suggested that the clause of "bond" of the previous employment policy needs to be done away with to address this demand of employees.

“As the employee♈s in J&K are central government employee𝐆s, policy should also include providing them jobs in Central services too,” the party said.

The party also suggested the employees be posted in various secured institutions like police, secretariat, Raj Bhavan, city anꦜd town-based government departments — where there is a security set-up available. 

The party said there is a need to move the employees to some newly constructed government 🍷buildings in various districts from unsecured rente🐽d accommodation.

“These government accommodations should have security and facilities for housing them. Moreover, there i✱s demand of permanent allotment in the names of employees in Kashmir as part of their r🌱ehabilitation,” it said.

The party expressed hope that the issues raised by it would be addr📖esseꦫd as soon as possible.

(With PTI inputs)