Kashmiri Pandit shot dead in J&K’s Shopian; Over 20 killed in targeted killings since last year

New Delhi: A Kashmiri Pandit was shot down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Wednesday, the police said, adding one more statistic to around couple dozen killed in similar targeted killings based on religion over the last year.

Puran Krishan Bhat, the deceased, was on his way to his orchard near his house in Shopian’s Chowdari Gund area when he was attacked by terrorists.

Bhat was rushed to the hospital, where he later succumbed to gunshot wounds, added the police.

In a similarly targeted killing, in the same district, another Kashmir Pandit, Sunil Kumar, was gunned down by terrorists on 16 August at his apple orchard. His killing was claimed by The Resistance Front, a terrorist group that has been active in the Valley for the last couple of years.

Kashmiri Pandits have been protesting since the killing of Rahul Bhat in May 2022, demanding the transfer of Kashmir Pandit employees in Kashmir valley to Jammu or relatively safer places in Kashmir. The protesting employees had submitted a memorandum for transfers to Home Minister Amit Shah, during his recent visit to the union territory.

The Kashmiri Pandits were posted in different jobs in the valley under the PM’s special package, which is part of the government’s effort to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.

Kashmir has seen a spate of target killings with over 20 civilians — Kashmiri Pandits, local police officers, migrant workers and those critical of separatists — killed since October last year.

On 7 October 2021, a principal and a teacher belonging to the minority Hindu and Sikh communities were shot in broad daylight in the heart of Srinagar city. Just a couple of days before that a famous Kashmiri pandit chemist ML Bindroo was killed in a similar fashion.

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