Kejriwal says Kashmiri Pandits being targeted in J&K, seeks high-level security
Demanding high-level security for Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that there is a need to work together to relocate them to a safer place.
His remarks come a day after a woman school teacher was gunned down near her school in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam by terrorists. “The same thing is now happening with Kashmiri Pandits that happened with them in the 1990s. They are being targeted and killed in their houses, offices and roads. It is against humanity and country and no one is doing anything to stop it,” said Kejriwal during a press conference.
“When Kashmiri Pandits try to raise their voice against it, their voices are suppressed. 16 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed this year. I demand that high-level security should be given to them. I appeal to the Government of India that we have to work together to re-establish them in Kashmir,” he added.
During his address, the Delhi CM also remarked that this year at least 16 Kashmiri Pandits including Rahul Bhat and Rajni Bala were killed. “The terrorists do not want that the Kashmiri Pandits stay together,” he said.
“Now, they are negotiating with the truck drivers and have been urging to be relocated to Jammu, Srinagar or some other place…Hence we appeal to the central government to relocate them to a safer place, meanwhile, we too will put in as much contribution from our end as needed,” he added.
Rajni Bala, a school teacher was fired at by terrorists in the Kulgam on Tuesday. According to the J-K Police, the incident took place at the High School Gopalpora area of Kulgam, from where she was taken to the hospital and later succumbed to her injuries.
A Kashmiri TV actress Amreen Bhat was also killed by unidentified terrorists in Budgam’s Chadoora area in Jammu and Kashmir on May 25, while her 10-year-old nephew was injured.
Rahul Bhatt, an employee of the Tehsil office in the Budgam district’s Chadoora, was shot dead by terrorists in the Budgam on May 12, which then reminded the Jammu and Kashmir administration of a targeting killing.
Meanwhile, the Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed the implementation of projects under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Chief Secretary and other Senior Secretaries of the Union Territory.
According to the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Bhalla gave details of the construction of 6,000 tenements for Kashmiri Pandit migrants in the valley and informed that the work on tenements for Kashmiri Pandit migrants is going at a brisk pace.
It added that 1,324 tenements are scheduled to be completed by December 2022, while the additional 672 tenements will be completed by Oct 2023, and other remaining in 2023.