Srinagar: At a time when the Centre is making “concerted efforts” to encourage the Kashmiri Pandits to return to their hearth and home in the Valley, another member of the minority Brahmin Hindu community was shot dead by suspected militants in southern Pulwama district on Sunday.
The police said that the victim, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, a resident of Pulwama’s Achin village, was targeted by unknown assailants at a marketplace. A critically injured Sharma was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed soon afterwards, the police said.
DIG (South Kashmir range) Rayees Muhammad Bhat said: “Sharma, who was working as a bank security guard, was shot and critically wounded at Achan area of Litter. We are acting swiftly and investigating the matter.” He added: “The terrorists involved in this heinous crime will be tracked down and neutralised soon.”
J&K lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha condemned the “dastardly terror attack” and said the administration was standing strong with the bereaved family. “My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. The administration has given a free hand to the security forces to deal with the terrorists and we will continue to combat such acts of terrorism firmly and decisively,” he said.
The Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), a body of those Kashmiri Pandits who chose not to leave the Valley in 1990 when a vast majority of the minority community fled their homes and hearths to escape violence, tweeted: “Govt. & @BJP4India cannot handle 75 lacs kashmiri population and want to control POK & Balochistan. #KashmiriPandits are killed like dogs in Kashmir @HMOIndia and @
Several political parties and their leaders have condemned the killing. Former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “The vicious cycle of killings doesn’t seem to end. GOI has failed to protect minorities in J&K & reduced them to sitting ducks. Everyone here is paying a heavy price for this facade of normalcy. My deepest condolences to his family.”
