New Delhi: Amid the ongoing unrest over the killing of a government employee Rahul Bhat on Thursday, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) sought an appointment with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to discuss the issue of safety of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, a spokesperson said on Saturday. Talking to reporters of news agency PTI outside the residence of PAGD chairperson Farooq Abdullah after a meeting, spokesperson MY Tarigami said the death of Bhat has shaken the Valley.
According to the PTI report, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits decided to raise its concern over their security before the PAGD.
“They met us and we told them that as far as we and the people are concerned, this painful story has now become a routine of the day here, but Rahul's killing has shaken us,” PTI quoted Tarigami, also a senior leader of CPI(M), as saying.
“We appeal all the people that it is our tradition in Kashmir that even when the whole sub-continent was burning in 1947, Kashmir was the only place where no one faced any difficulty. It is our misfortune that Kashmir has become a troubled place for the people living here," he added.
The spokesperson said that the delegation has decided to meet Lieutenant Governor Sinha and take up the matter with him.
He added that they have approached Raj Bhavan for a meeting of the PAGD leadership Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Muzaffar Shah with Sinha urging him to resolve the issues.
“We will tell the government to check in a mirror whether there is normalcy on the ground or not and see with your eyes open. We will also tell the government to provide security to the Kashmiri Pandits and others as well,” he said, adding, “For that, it is important that Kashmiri Pandit employees get an opportunity to work in a secure atmosphere, at a safe place so that their fears get over and they become confident.”