Jammu: Nearly 350 government employees, all Kashmiri Pandits, in the Kashmir valley have tendered resignation and submitted a mass-resignation letter to J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday after the killing of a government employee Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists inside his office in central Kashmir's Budgam district yesterday.
In the letter, the Pandits told LG and Central government that they did not feel safe in Kashmir anymore. These employees have been provived employment under the Prime Minister's package for the displaced.
Rahul Bhat (a Kashmiri Pandit government employee) was gunned down by terrorists inside the Tehsil office in Chadoora town on Thursday. According to reports, he had got the job of a clerk under the special employment package for migrants in 2010-11.
Ever since his killing, score of Kashmiri Pandits have been protesting in various parts of Jammu demanding punishment for the killers of Bhat. The agitators also demanded their relocation to safer places outside the valley. Sheikhpora camp, located in Budgam of central Kashmir, was the epicentre of these protests. Several Kashmiri pandit employees have been given make-shift accommodation Sheikhpora Camp.
J&K administration and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had to face the ire of mourners at the Jammu house of Bhat. According to reports, Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina and other party leaders, who attended the funeral, were heckled and roughed up and police had to intervene when they visited the cremation ground in Jammu.
Even in Kashmir, hundreds of Kashmiri pandits employees blocked a highway in the Vessu area of Kulgam district and went on an indefinite pen-down strike, accusing the government of failing to ensure their protection and safety.
(With inputs from PTI.)