The Shopian incident has shook the Pandit community in the Valley.
The Shopian incident has shook the Pandit community in the Valley.
Terrorists shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit and injured another member of the community in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Tuesday, triggering yet another shock wave among members of the minority community in the Valley. A Pandit group from the Valley said that the entire community now feels unsafe in Kashmir.
Police said that unidentified terrorists fired upon two Pandits while they were busy in their apple orchard in Shopian’s Chhotepora area. Sunil Kumar died on the spot after being shot from close range. The second person, Pitambar Nath Pandit, was injured in the attack and was shifted to Army Hospital in Srinagar.
Police said the terror incident took place at around 11.30 pm “Two civilians have been identified as Pitamber Nath Bhat, son of Arjun Nath Bhat and Sunil Kumar Bhat, son of Shri G Bhat, both of whom belong to the minority community. He is a resident of Chotigam in Shopian. Serious injuries caused by bullets. Bhat succumbed to the injuries. However, the condition of the other injured person is said to be stable,” the police said.
Police said an investigation is ongoing and officers “continue to work to establish the full circumstances of this terror crime”.
In a state of shock, family members are finding it difficult to reconcile what has happened. They demanded justice after the victim’s body was handed over to them. They had decided to stay back in the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s, when the majority of the community decided to face raging violence.
This is the second time that Kashmiri Pandits have been attacked by terrorists in Shopian’s Chotipora this year. In April, a Pandit shopkeeper, Sonu Kumar, was shot and injured in his shop.
“We have approached the Deputy Commissioner, Shopian and the Divisional Commissioner to increase security in our area. He didn’t do anything. They are responsible for these killings,” said Kumar’s brother.
There have been several attacks on members of the minority community in Kashmir this year, in which Rahul Bhat, a Pandit employee and Rajni Bala, a school teacher from Jammu, were killed.
Since the killings, migrant Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s Return and Rehabilitation Package for the Union Territory have boycotted offices in the Valley despite their postings “to secure the district headquarters”.
It now appears that a new wave of attacks by terrorists against non-local activists and members of minority communities has been launched in Kashmir. Two grenade attacks were carried out on Pandits in Kashmir’s Budgam and Pulwama this week. Karan Kumar Singh was injured on Monday by a grenade in Gopalpora area of Budgam. A migrant laborer was killed on 12 August in Bandipora.
The growing fear among the pundits is clear. The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), an organization of Kashmiri Pandits who did not visit in the 1990s, has said that terrorists are targeting all Pandits living in the Kashmir Valley.
“KPSS requests all Kashmiri Pandits to leave the Kashmir Valley. With yet another deadly attack on Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley, the terrorists have made it clear that they are going to kill all Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley,” said KPSS President Sanjay Tikku. He said it was ironic that local grassroots workers work with terrorists to “kill their neighbours”.
“Kashmir is a place where tourists are safe as there were no attacks during the Amarnath Yatra, but local non-Muslims, especially Kashmiri Pandits are vulnerable,” Mr. Tikku said.
Mr. Tikku said that the judiciary and the government have miserably failed to protect Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.
“Kashmiri Pandits should leave Kashmir and not fall for the sugar-coated statements of Kashmiri society. The Kashmiri Pandits are left with only one option – leave Kashmir or be killed by religious fanatics who have the support of the local population,” said Mr. Tikku.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who met the injured Pandit at the hospital, said, “I am beyond words on the despicable terror attack on civilians in Shopian. This attack deserves strong condemnation from all. The terrorists responsible for the barbaric act will not be spared.”
Regional parties from Jammu and Kashmir also condemned the attack. “Very sad to hear about the targeted killing in Shopian. The Indian government continues to behave like an ostrich whose head is buried under the sand. Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti said that every resident of Jammu and Kashmir has become cannon fodder in the quest for the ‘built normalcy’ of Delhi.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said, “I categorically condemn the terrorist attack in Shopian.”
People’s Conference president Sajjad Lone called the attack “cowardly”. “Another dastardly attack by cowardly terrorists in Shopian. We strongly condemn this heinous act of violence,” Mr Lone said.
Local Muslims took the victim’s body in a procession and raised slogans that “killing innocent people is unacceptable” and “stop the bloodshed”. He also raised the slogan that Hindus and Muslims are brothers.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Vijay Kumar appreciated the efforts of the protesting villagers and condemned the killing of innocent civilians.
“According to eyewitnesses, a classified terrorist of Al Badr, Adil Wani of Kutpora, Shopian was behind the attack. another [attacker] was an over ground worker,” said Mr. Kumar. Hindu,