New Delhi: The Srinagar-based organization of local Pandits – Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) has urged members of the minority community to leave the Valley to stay alive. A painful statement from KPSS comes amid Tuesday’s brutal attack that killed Sunil Kumar and critically injured his brother, Pitambar (Pintu) in Chotigam village of Shopian district.
According to the media report, Sanjay Kumar Tickoo, president of KPSS asked all local Pandits to leave the Valley. “No Kashmiri Pandit is safe in Kashmir Valley. For Kashmiri Pandits, only one option left is to leave Kashmir or get killed by the religiously fanatic minds who have support from the local population,” the KPSS statement read.
The statement also pointed out that tourists and Amarnath Yatris remained safe in Kashmir, but it is non-local Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits who are the target of terrorists.
In a terrorist attack last week, a migrant laborer from Bihar was shot dead in the Sumbal town of Bandipora district. Another laborer from Bihar was also killed and two injured in a grenade attack at Pulwama’s Gadoora on August 4. According to the media report, The targeted killings this year killed almost 25 people.
The Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley. They are Hindu Kashmiris and are native to the Kashmir Valley.
(Vinayak)