A bastion of Kashmiri pandits, a record 12 displaced pandits of a total 21 candidates are trying their luck from Habba Kadal segment which goes to polls with 20 other constituencies in Jammu, Srinagar and Samba districts in seventh and final phase of elections on December 24.
As a spate of targeted killings of minorities rock Kashmir, a Kashmiri Pandits' organisation on Friday said some employees from the community, who were provided government jobs under a rehabilitation package in 2010-11, have started moving to Jammu quietly fearing for their life, alleging the administration was unable to provide then a secure environment.
After a Kashmiri Pandit shopkeeper was shot at by terrorists in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, his family received immense support from his Muslim neighbours who not only rushed him to a hospital but camped at his house as well to ward off any further trouble.
Terrorists carried out three attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, leaving one CRPF personnel dead and four persons, including two workers from Bihar and a Kashmiri Pandit, injured, officials said.
Sinha made the remark amid the ongoing protest by migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees and Jammu-based reserved category employees who left the Valley for Jammu in May following the targeted killings of their two colleagues -- Rahul Bhat and Rajni Bhalla. The protesting employees have been seeking relocation outside Kashmir.
Hundreds of Pandits staged a demonstration during which the successive state and central governments were accused of ignoring the plight of the community.
This timeline details major terror attacks on civilians in Kashmir since 2000. It highlights incidents targeting the Sikh community, Amarnath pilgrims, and other civilians, including a massacre of Kashmiri Pandits. The timeline also notes attacks on security personnel, including the 2019 Pulwama attack.
Social activist Amit Koul, who was part of the delegation, said they have invited Gandhi to their Jagti township along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and that he is likely to visit the community on his way to Kashmir.
A Kashmiri Pandit organisation has placed the number of Pandits killed since 1989 when militancy erupted in Kashmir at 399, contradicting the official figure of 219.
An eminent American lawmaker has introduced a resolution in the United States House of Representatives condemning the 'extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits for more than two decades now.'
27-year-old Vinod Dhar's entire family was massacred when he was just a teenager. He now has a government job and a flat alloted by the government in a township for Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu but almost a decade later, the horrors of that night remain with him. Archana Masih reports from Jammu.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the 'unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives' of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs in Srinagar.
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
The resolution condemns the extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits, which they have endured for more than two decades.
Tullamulla village, 27 kilometre from Srinagar in Ganderbal district where the Kashmiri Pandits' holiest shrine is located, wore a festive look despite the overnight heavy rains in Kashmir.
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits had, during an interaction with Raza in New Delhi, demanded that they be allowed to visit the Shardapeeth once a year. Raza had assured them he would facilitate their visit to the temple.
The killing of a Rajput driver by a terrorist has generated a sense of fear and uncertainty among members of the tiny community in Kakran village in Kulgam district who have stayed on in Kashmir Valley despite decades of militancy but are now considering leaving for a safer place.
The protest was organised by All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), whose delegation led by its president Ravinder Raina later submitted a memorandum to the Lt Governor G C Murmu, highlighting various demands with special thrust for return and rehabilitation in their homeland.
Dr Sameer Kaul, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's personal physician, speaks about Kashmir's hardline separatist.
Kashmiri Pandits have impressed upon the central government that there should be no dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and nothing should be done to weaken the state's integration with the country. A group of Kashmiri Pandits met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on Sunday night and apprised him of their views on the current volatile situation in the state.
The separatist amalgam appealed to the international community to intervene in putting an end to the daily violence and tragic loss of life in Kashmir by "pushing for the resolution of the lingering Kashmir conflict, which is the root cause of all this suffering".
Kashmiri Pandit employees on Monday threatened to appeal to international human rights organisations for asylum if the central government failed to relocate them from the Valley in the wake of attacks on minorities.
'We know the situation has worsened in the valley, but we are taking the first step.' 'We have lost 30 years of our life. We do not want to wait any longer.' 'The political class always said, you come down to Kashmir.' 'So, we are going to be there and we are going to demand a place to stay.' 'After all, it is our own land.'
From a trickle in 1990, when militancy erupted in the valley, the numbers have, however, gradually seen an upward trend.
As tensions grow between India and Pakistan, anti-India terrorist groups plan to intensify their operations against Kashmiri Pandits to seek local support of homegrown militants in Kashmir.
Bullet-proof vehicles, wall-through radars and drones are some of the new gadgets inducted by the Central Reserve Police Force into its counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, leading to precision-based actions against terrorists.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said in the Rajya Sabha that 3,000 state government jobs were created for Kashmiri migrants under the Prime Minister's Development Package-2015 (PMDP-2015) with an outlay of Rs 1,080 crore.
Congress put up five demands at the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with leaders of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday including early statehood, conducting polls to restore democracy and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said return of Kashmiri Pandits should not be kept hostage to the dictate of the separatist leadership and strongly demanded a "secured zone" for those who want to return to their homeland.
'A man with a gun commanded respect. I thought if I also got a gun, I could save my family. With this thought, I went to Pakistan and got training there'
Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah's veiled comments against Anupam Kher on Saturday drew sharp reactions from his former co-star.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday rebutted the Opposition's charge that the Bharatiya Janata Party too shared the responsibility for the failure to check the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 as it was supporting the then V P Singh-led government at the Centre.
His remarks sparked a controversy with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan targeting the Indian government over its Kashmir policy.
Anupam Kher lashes out at Haider director Vishal Bhardwaj.
We had a good talk with the chief minister of J-K: Rajnath
The positivity over Narendra Modi's election speech in Jammu is unanimous, but it comes with guarded optimism as many would like to wait and watch to see how the new government actually manages the 25-year-old issue, says Upasna Pandey
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances