'Genocidal War Unleashed By Jihadi Forces': Anger Streams At Cremation Of Slain Kashmiri Pandit In Jammu

Targeted Killings In Kashmir: Terrorists shot and killed Puran Krishan Bhat on Saturday in front of his ancestral home in the Chowdhary Gund neighbourhood in the Shopian district of south Kashmir.

The Body Of Deceased Kashmiri Pandit, Puran Krishan Bhat.

Source : Twitter/@ANI

New Delhi: As the mortal remains of a dead Kashmiri pandit were cremated on Sunday, the grieving Kashmiri Pandit community expressed anger over what they view as a failure of the Jammu and Kashmir government to halt terrorists' selective killings in the Valley.

Terrorists shot and killed Puran Krishan Bhat on Saturday in front of his ancestral home in the Chowdhary Gund neighbourhood in the Shopian district of south Kashmir, where he had gone to take care of his orchards.

Late on Saturday night, the deceased's body was received by his grieving family members at his Muthi house in Jammu.

According to news agency PTI, thousands of mourners gathered besides Bhat's two children, Shriya and Shanu, and other family members at the Ban Talab crematory on Sunday to bid their final goodbyes amid shouts of anti-Pakistan slogans.

They demanded prompt transfer of Hindu workers outside the valley until the security situation returned to normal, as well as sufficient compensation for the family, including Rs 50 lakh ex gratia and government employment for the deceased's wife.

Daughter Shriya was seen kissing the body as she bid her father farewell, while her younger brother, a student in Class 5, was spotted gazing at the body, as per the PTI report.

Soon after Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and other top police and government officials arrived at the cremation site, the mourners began to yell at the authorities for allegedly failing to put an end to targeted killings in the valley.

"It is very unfortunate that one more Kashmiri pandit fell to the bullets of terrorists, exposing the false claims of the government about improvement in the security situation. He is the 18th minority community member shot dead over the past two years," Satish Kumar, a relative of the deceased said, as quoted by PTI in its report.

He said a police post and an army camp are located nearby where Bhat was shot, indicating that the security situation in the valley has limped back to the early 1990s.

Another family member of Bhat, who had travelled from Shopian with the body of the deceased, stated that they believe it was their worst mistake to remain in the valley following the targetted killings.

Vikram Koul, a Kashmiri Pandit volunteer, said that the government should promptly offer a 50 lakh rupee settlement and a job for the deceased's family.

"We also request the government to immediately relocate all the Hindus from the valley as it has failed to provide security to them," he added, as quoted by PTI.

Chairman of Panun Kashmir Ajay Chrungoo castigated the government for the continued killing of Hindus in Kashmir and said they are caught between “genocidal war unleashed on them by jihadi forces with the state of Pakistan as its prime abettor and the denial of genocide by government of India”.

He insisted that the government pass the Panun Kashmir proposed "Prevention of Genocide and Atrocities Bill."

All assertions of normality in Kashmir, according to Panun Kashmir leader Agnishekhar, have been proven false by the ongoing murders of people from the minority population.

"Tourist arrivals and shooting of films are no signs of normalcy...The real normalcy will be when we (Kashmiri pandits) are able to move freely and re-settle there without any fear," he said. 

(With Inputs From PTI)