A barefoot march held by the Kashmiri Pandit Migrant Employees in Jammu demanding the government’s address on their safety concerns while bringing out a complete roadmap to relocate them in the valley.
The march was held by the pandits on the occasion of Constitution Day on November 26 and it was intended to demand the government to safeguard their “Right to Life” provided in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. One of the protestors said, “We have spent 15 years in Kashmir. The Kashmiri Pandits and the employees are demanding a comprehensive roadmap to relocate the Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. On the occasion of Constitution Day, we demand the lives to be saved in Kashmir.”
“The people of Kashmir are with us in this fight. Kashmiri Pandits are becoming scapegoats due to the targeted killings. The migrant workers from other states are being killed,” he added.
Another protester claimed that the recent wave of targeted killings in Kashmir violated their right to life and urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to address the issue with the staff.
“Our Right to Life in the Constitution is being violated. We demand from the government to ensure the right to education and the Right to Life which is being violated in Kashmir. Until the situation becomes good in the valley, we demand the government to relocate us to Jammu. The employees are not demanding anything but their lives. The administration should show sensitivity and come forward to talk to the employees. The L-G should take note of these things,” he said.
Since October of last year, a number of targeted killings have occurred in Kashmir.
According to an earlier NIA charge sheet, targeted killings in the Kashmir Valley were a component of a larger plot by Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists and other terrorist organisations that have been designated as being proscribed to disturb the peace and democratic process established by the Panchayati Raj System in the valley as well as to sow terror among the politically elected representatives.
The information was made public when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged six people in the deliberate killing of the Sarpanch of the Adoora village in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
The anti-terror organisation submitted the chargesheet in the matter of the targeted murder of Sarpanch Shabir Ahmad Mir by the terrorists of the outlawed terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen in a special NIA court in Jammu.
The case was re-registered by the NIA on April 8 after being initially registered on March 11 at the Kulgam police station in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the NIA, investigations have shown that the handlers of the outlawed terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen, who are based in Pakistan, planned the targeted murder of Sarpanch Shabir Ahmad Mir in cooperation with other terrorists, Over Ground Workers, and Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists active in the Kashmir Valley.