New Delhi: Protests have erupted at various places in Jammu and Kashmir after a government employee belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community was shot dead at the Tehsil Office on Thursday.
Rahul Bhat, who had got the job of a clerk under the special employment package for migrants in 2010-11 was killed by terrorists inside the Tehsil office in Chadoora town, according to news agency PTI.
The body of the deceased, who was in his early 30s, has been brought to Jammu for cremation to be performed in the afternoon. The latest killing of a civilian in the region has instilled fear among Kashmiri pandits.
A protest has been planned near Raj Bhavan demanding security and safety of Kashmiri pandits who returned to the state. However, it is likely that the protest is cancelled due to security reasons. Around 6,000 Kashimiri pandits have come back to the state under the resettlement scheme.
In fact, those who are employed in government offices have also not gone to work in protest and are pressing for safety at their work places. They have also demanded to continue with their protests unless they are reassured of their safety.
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit employee in a crowded government office in Budgam district on Thursday.
Protests are being planned in various regions populated by Kashmiri pandits. A protest was staged by the residents of Sheikhpora colony in Jammu Kashmir’s Budgam district as well. Kashmiri Pandit employees in south Kashmir’s Mattan and Vesu also protested against the killing. The protesting employees blocked the national highway and raised slogans against the administration for failing to stop the killing, reported PTI.
Mourners flocked the house of Bhat as his family and relatives waited for his body. The father has demanded a probe into the killing of his son by the authorities.
"His body should be returned immediately and an inquiry ordered into the incident to identify all those who are involved in his cold-blooded murder," said his father Bita Bhat from his Durga Nagar residence located in the outskirts of Jammu, according to PTI.
The father also pointed out that it was the responsibility of the deputy commissioner to at least inform the family as his employee was killed inside his office chamber in broad-daylight. Bhat was living in a migrant colony at Sheikhpura in Budgam district and had around eight years of service. Bhat is the second Kashmiri Pandit to have been killed by terrorists in the last seven months.
Earlier in October, a prominent pharmacist from the Kashmiri Pandit community was killed in Srinagar. A non-local vendor was also targeted in a separate terror incident on the same day.