Scores of protesting Kashmiri Pandit prime minister's package employees on Monday reiterated their demand for relocation outside the valley, saying their worst fears have come true with the latest killing of a community member in Pulwama.
The Congress will make it the main issue when its Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi reaches Jammu and Kashmir early next year.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday ordered an inquiry into the use of force against the Kashmiri Pandit employees who were protesting the killing of Rahul Bhat.
Puran Krishan was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir district, they said, adding that doctors declared Krishan brought dead after he was shifted to Shopian hospital.
A government employee belonging to the Kashmir Pandit community was shot dead by suspected militants at his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said in Srinagar.
The appeal by the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) came after a delegation led by its president Farooq Abdullah met Jammu and Kashmiri Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.
Shouting slogans against district administration, the protestors raised slogans like "we want justice".
Madhya Pradesh humbled domestic powerhouse Mumbai by six wickets in a one-sided final to win their maiden Ranji Trophy crown, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru on Sunday. It was an achievement of sorts for coach Chandrakant Pandit, who exorcised the ghosts of losing one at the same venue 23 summers ago. It was a record sixth national title for Pandit as a coach.
Kashmir zone inspector general of police Vijay Kumar also urged the protesters to be patient and 'not get carried away by political parties.'
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Terming the killing a "cowardly act", the protesters said assurances given by the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure the safety of minorities in the Valley have proved to be false.
'Rahul Gandhi should have prevented Nitish Kumar from going.' 'He must pacify Mamata Banerjee if he has a cause of Mohabbat Ki Dukaan.' 'He should bring this Mohabbat Ki Dukaan on the political canvas.'
All about IPL 2025 which kicks off on March 22, Saturday.
Raising slogans against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and the administration, the demonstrators, mostly government employees posted in the troubled valley and their kin, demanded that they be provided adequate security or be transferred to Jammu. The employees also threatened en masse resignation from their jobs.
They also demanded immediate release of their pending salaries in view of the 'Maha Shivratri' festival, being observed later this week.
'While we've seen some standout series over the past year, few have been as captivating and binge-worthy as this.'
"If a person is shot inside his office, nobody is safe in the valley. When such a thing has happened it is a glaring example of the government's failure. Those serving (among the Kashmiri Pandits) there are doing it at their own risk as the government has failed to provide security to them," Bhat's father said.
The protesters assembled under the banner of the newly-formed Kashmiri Pandits United Front in front of the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh, near the Tawi bridge in the heart of Jammu.
Terrorists have stepped up attacks in the Kashmir valley over the past week.
The Pandits said they have heaved a sigh of relief on reaching their township at Jagti in the outskirts of Jammu after spending sleepless nights in their rented accommodations in the Kashmir over the past few weeks.
Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh have created an excellent but grim series, applauds Deepa Gahlot.
Citing media reports, KPSS chief Sanjay K Tickoo claimed that the Hindus living in Kashmir wanted to leave the Valley but the government was not allowing them to do so.
'Rahul should have learnt so much in the last 20 years. But give him a mic and he begins to talk without thinking about its consequences.'
The duo came under the scanner of the security forces during tracking of a local LeT terrorist, named Lateef Rather alias Osama, who was involved in terror incidents in Srinagar and Budgam in the last two months, the police spokesman said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has transferred five Kashmiri Pandit employees from Kashmir to Jammu, a step welcomed by the community members who have been on a strike for over two months in support of the demand for their relocation over safety concerns.
'There is no peace in the Kashmir Valley.'
Scores of Kashmiri Pandits assembled at Tulmulla in Ganderbal district to protest against the killing of their community member, the officials said.
The eulogies will pour for Ustad Zakir Hussain. There will be those who recount his genius, his enterprise, his achievements, his grace, and his charm. I have no selfies or autographs to remember him by, but I will never forget his most generous and gracious gift to me -- one day in heaven, among the celestial ensemble of Indian music.
On Thursday, May 12, 2022, Rahul Bhat, a government employee belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community, was murdered by terrorists at his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam in Srinagar.
Official also said the recent escalation in targeted terrorist violence would not lead to any change in plans for holding the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled from June 30-August 11.
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.
Gandhi, who met a cross section of people from Jammu and Kashmir during his yatra, said J-K has the highest level of unemployment in the country.
A wave of high-profile player releases, including four prominent captains -- Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Faf du Plessis -- has reshaped the landscape of the league.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
Diwali festivities with Bollywood stars and their little ones continue in full swing.
GaneshUtsav has begun and social media is flooded with pictures of celebrities welcoming Lord Ganesha home.
'When the Congress is put against someone like Narendra Modi, they do not have anything new to offer to the people of India.'
"This is all about distraction, basic issue is of caste census and participation, in whose hands is the money of the country going. They (BJP) don't want to discuss this issue, they are afraid of it and run away from it," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.
Bollywood's mega stars came together to celebrate Producer Anand Pandit's 60th birthday in Mumbai.
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