Srinagar, May 13: The killing of a Kashmiri Pandit government official, Rahul Bhat, by terrorists in Kashmir's Budgam district on Thursday afternoon has once again raised the spectre of fear and insecurity among members of this minority community.
A district revenue department employee, Bhat was shot at inside the Tehsildar’s office in Chadoora in Central Kashmir. Grievously injured, he was rushed to a hospital in Srinagar but could not be saved.
Predictably, Bhat’s murder resulted in the Kashmiri Pandit community across the country protesting and demonstrating strongly against the incident, and calling on the UT government and at Centre to protect the community, initiate prompt investigation and take effective counter measures to neutralise anti-social elements.
The community has been categorical in saying that simply condemning the incident, or expressing solidarity with the Bhat family in their hour of tragedy, or issuing orders for a mere search operation for the culprits, will not do.
A day after Bhat’s murder, various platforms of expression, including social media, are agog with the question of whether the administration really needs to do more to ensure the security of minorities in Kashmir Valley.
Statistics reveal that since 2017, number of minorities killed in Valley alone is around 35, if not more.
Ministry of Home Affairs data available in the public domain reveals that as many as 14 Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus have been killed in the Kashmir Valley after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution by Parliament in 2019. These killings have taken place in several places, including Anantnag, Baramulla, Kulgam, Pulwama and Srinagar districts.
Though the UT government and Centre are on record to say that they have taken several measures to ensure the safety of minorities in the valley, with a robust security and intelligence grid in place, the fact of the matter is that sporadic killings by terrorists continue.
Cross–border infiltration in J&K may have decreased, as per claims of the government, but the fact is that terrorist attacks and targeted killings are still taking place, notwithstanding “zero tolerance” towards terrorism.
For instance, last month, two motorcycle-borne terrorists opened fire on a Kashmiri Pandit shopkeeper in Chotigam area of South Kashmir's Shopian district. The victim, Sonu Kumar, however, survived the attack.
In October 2021, the Kashmir Valley was rocked by a spate of civilian killings, mostly targeted at minority communities. Makhan Lal Bindroo, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit and owner of Srinagar's most famous pharmacy, was shot dead in his shop on October 5.
Last month, the Kashmiri Pandit community in the Veervan colony of Baramulla claimed that they had received an anonymous letter in the post from the lesser-known terror outfit Lashkar-e-Islam threatening them and other non-Muslims to convert to Islam or face life-threatening attacks.
The letter was forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police of Baramulla, but it was redirected to the local police station for further investigation, suggesting that ensuring the security of minorities in the Kashmir Valley was not that much of priority.
Pandit community representatives had then revealed that the police had only responded with a commitment that they could only enhance camp security for the several hundred Pandits living in the colony. Consistent demand for a foolproof security setup for them and other non-Muslims is still a distant dream.
Security forces may be intensifying their anti-terror operations and launching crackdowns on terrorists and their supporters, but for them, the biggest challenge is to stop further killings of soft targets.