Protests by Kashmiri Pandits employed in the valley under the Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package have ended after days of demonstrations over what they claim is the administration’s “failure” to safeguard them from targeted assaults.
Many Kashmiri Pandits working for the government and living in the two primary security camps, Sheikhpora in Budgam and Haal in Pulwama, exposed the onsane living circumstances in a conversation. A definite feeling of dread and fear can be sensed in the air. Some claim they are actively looking for a new place to live after a recent spate of deaths of minorities and foreigners in the Valley of the Sun.
Amit Koul, 40, a government employee in the heart of recent demonstrations and a resident of the Sheikhpora camp, stated, “We are all moving back to Jammu.” His statement that he and five of his colleagues had already departed the camp was revealed.
Koul added that since the May 12 killing of Rahul Bhat, an employee of the Revenue department working under the PM’s package, they have been requesting that the government move them to Jammu.
In a sign that several campers acknowledged, the protest tent was taken down from the camp’s gates on Thursday. “There is some opposition from the local authorities. Even in the morning, they attempted to close the gates. Sheikhpora camp resident Ashwini Pandita says she has seen some families leave, but it is done quietly, so they will not be discovered.
According to a departing Kashmiri Pandit employee, “nowhere in Kashmir is safe for minorities anymore.”
About 45 families in the Haal camp in South Kashmir are still confined to their homes, despite some of them having said that they are willing to go. “All of us are trying to figure out when we can get out of here. It is widely agreed upon by all of us that we must vacate our positions. It is time to stop putting our lives in danger,” said Arvind Pandita, a Haal camp resident.
A temporary relocation was not an option, therefore “we will relocate with our children and our stuff,” he stated when asked whether they were open to the idea.
When asked about the return of almost 3,800 migrant candidates to Kashmir to work for the government as part of the PM package in March 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs replied that in a written response to a question in Parliament. According to the report, 520 migrant applicants returned to Kashmir after Article 370 was repealed in order to fill these positions.
However, K Pandurang Pole, the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner, could not be contacted for comment.
