Srinagar: A 45-year-old Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by terrorists in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday, in yet another targeted attack on the minority community in the Valley, police said.
Sanjay Sharma, a resident of Achan in Pulwama, was on his way to a local market when he was fired upon by terrorists. “He was shifted to a hospital, however, he succumbed to injuries,” Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet.
Sharma was an armed guard, police said, without clarifying where he worked. Local reports suggested the deceased worked as a bank security guard. Local residents said Sharma is survived by his wife and three children.
The attack came two days after one Asif Ganai, son of a deceased police head constable was fired upon outside a mosque in Bijbehara area of Anantnag on Friday. He sustained injuries in the attack and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Rayees Mohammad Bhat, deputy inspector general of police (South Kashmir), said police are probing the attack on Sharma.
“We will track down the involved terrorists soon and will neutralise them. In the incidents that happened in south Kashmir, rigorous investigation is going on and the terrorists will soon be neutralised. We will thwart their nefarious designs,” he said.
“Our security is tight but under what circumstances this attack happened is a matter of investigation,” he added.
Sunday’s killing is the latest in a series of attacks on civilians and members of the Pandit community, prompting them to leave their homes.
Nearly 4,000 Kashmiri Pandits were employed in different government departments in the Valley after their selection under the Prime Minister’s employment package, according to the local administrations. In November, the employees staged a protest outside the Jammu relief commissioner’s office for several days, seeking their relocation out of the Valley.
The home ministry told Parliament in December that nine Kashmiri Pandits have been killed in the Valley since 2020 – one in 2020 and four each in 2021 and 2022 – in targeted attacks.
Lieutenant governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha condemned the “dastardly terror attack”. “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.
Political parties also condemned Sunday’s killing.
National conference vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sanjay Pandith of Achan in Pulwama district of South Kashmir. Sanjay was working as a bank security guard & was killed in a militant attack earlier today. I unequivocally condemn this attack & send my condolences to his loved ones”.
Former J&K chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti hit out at the Centre for “failing to protect minorities” in the Union territory.
“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,” she tweeted.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Parvaiz Qadri also condemned the killing. “…Blood continues to flow like water and no one gazes an eye. #Kashmir,” he said.
The Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, a prominent Pandits’ body in the Valley, also slammed the government and L-G Sinha.
“Shame on (J&K LG) Manoj Sinha. Yet another, non-migrant Kashmiri pandit killed today. (He) was working as guard at ATM near his residence at Achan Pulwama, is survived by his wife and two children,” KPSS said in a tweet.
“Government and @BJP4India cannot handle 75 lac Kashmiri population… @HMOIndia and @OfficeOfLGJandK censor the information that Kashmir is most dangerous place for Kashmiri Pandits in this world,” it said.
The outfit called for a strike in Kashmir on Monday.
BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur also condemned the killing. “There is frustration on part of Pakistan. Kashmir is preparing for the G20 summit and this has not gone down well with Pakistan which is indulging in civilian killings here,” he said.
He added: “There is peace and the situation is good everywhere. Now unfortunately, this killing happened today after a long time (but) it does not mean that the situation is not good in Kashmir. Terrorism in Kashmir has reached its lowest ebb. Now, just a few elements are there who will also be finished.”
On January 10, Union home minister Amit Shah held a closed-door meeting with leaders from Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of a bunch of issues such as targeted killings of minorities and the protest by government employees seeking relocation from the Valley, that have emerged as a challenge for the BJP as it prepares for assembly elections in the Union Territory.