Sarpanch’s murder refreshes memory of Kashmiri Pandits’ genocide, exodus from Valley
A retired Kashmiri Pandit schoolteacher, Dwarika Nath Pandita, a native of Lukbawan village of Dooru Tehsil in Anantnag, arrived in Jammu early on Tuesday after undertaking one of the most difficult journeys of his life.
Thirty years ago, he migrated from the same village and had shifted his belongings to Jammu in the dead of the night.
At that time he was accompanied by his young son. But on Monday evening, when Dwarika Nath once again embarked on a return journey in the dead of the night, he was carrying the body of his son, an elected sarpanch of the area, Ajay Pandita (Bharti).
Late Monday evening, unidentified terrorists gunned down Ajay, roughly 50 metres away from his house. They pumped bullets in his head and back from close range. The father and son were in their orchard minutes before Ajay was targeted.
Remembering the last moments he spent with his son, Omkar Nath Pandita told reporters in Jammu, “Someone came and informed Ajay that he needed his signature on a form. Ajay stepped out and met with a hail of bullets. We shifted him to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.”
Pandita said, “Ajay had worked hard to rebuild our lives after we returned to our native village. My son was patriotic to the core. He loved his motherland. After spending around seven years in Jammu, we returned to Kashmir valley in 1996-97.”
According to close family members, initially, they returned to Kashmir in 1992 where they stayed on rent. In the next four years, they rebuilt their home and shifted to their native village. The family had also survived ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits in the area. Several temples were desecrated in the area.
Pandita said, “No one from the Government came forward to help us in any way when we returned to our home and hearth. Ajay raised loans and helped me revive our orchards, ruined during peak days of militancy.”
Sitting in the company of mourners and close relatives in the Subhash Nagar area, the bereaved father of Ajay Pandita said, “My son was not afraid of anyone. He would say if security personnel can perform duties in Kashmir valley and sacrifice their lives for the nation why should we run away. I will live here and die here in my native village.”
Paying tribute to his son, Pandita said, “I will not say my son has been killed. I will say my son has sacrificed his life for his motherland”.
On their arrival in Jammu, early Tuesday morning, hundreds of close relatives and common people from their neighborhood gathered to pay tributes to the grassroots leader. His mortal remains were escorted to the nearby cremation ground, wrapped in a tricolor and consigned to flames amid chanting of patriotic slogans.
Talking about his son’s political journey Pandita said, “When he contested elections, everyone in the area walked for miles and voted for him. He was loved by all the local people. He had no enemies”.
Commenting on the support the family received from local residents, Pandita said, “There are very few fundamentalists who don’t want Kashmiri pandits to return to the Kashmir valley. They were against us at that time also and even now. But a majority of people in the valley want Kashmiri pandits to return and stay there.”
He said local residents in the area had organized commercial vehicles, facilitated our long journey and came along with us to Jammu.
Pandita said, he still wants to return home and fulfill the dream of his son. “I have only one regret, those who killed my son shot him from the back. They could not gather the courage to come in front and open fire on him, so they hit him from the back.
Ajay Pandita is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters.
Ajay Pandita was an active political worker in the area and was affiliated with the Congress party. He was elected as Sarpanch last year after defeating a BJP candidate in the Panchayat polls. According to local reports, Ajay was demanding security cover for the last couple of months but his requests were ignored.
His interview dated December 3, 2019 has also surfaced on social media where he is seen narrating his ordeal and how Government employees were treating them as ‘untouchables’ instead of paying heed to their grievances related to adequate security cover and safe accommodation.
Several political leaders, including JKPCC Chief GA Mir, State BJP Chief Ravinder Raina, Kashmiri pandit community leaders and social activists, paid rich tributes to the grassroots worker and condemned his brutal killing.
