n Before bidding final adieu to her beloved father Puran Krishan Bhat, Shriya kept patting his mortal remains and kissed him “profusely” while her younger brother, Shanu, shaken by the tragedy, silently stood by her side staring at the corpse. The young siblings were speechless. With moist eyes they stood clinging to each other by the side of their deceased father.
As the rush of mourners started trickling in to pay their tributes the kids said last goodbye to their father and were whisked away by the close relatives in a separate corner.
Though the mood was sombre at the cremation ground in Bantalab area of Jammu yet emotions ran high as some of the agitated Kashmiri pandit youth shouted anti government slogans even as the long funeral procession reached there escorted by the local policemen. The members of the Kashmiri pandit community were aghast over another incident of targeted killing and failure of the UT administration in preventing such 'barbaric' incidents.
Earlier the mortal remains of Bhat reached Jammu late Saturday night. Wailing relatives assembled at the residence of Puran Bhat consoled each other. During the day he was killed in cold blood by the terrorists outside his residence in the Chowdhari Gund area of South Kashmir's Shopian district.
Since last evening the close relatives and other loved ones have been raising the issue of security provided to the members of the minority community in the Kashmir valley and how vulnerable they are even in their own houses despite the presence of security camps and dedicated security apparatus to guard them round the clock.
The top brass of the different political parties skipped the cremation ceremony while some of the junior leaders were seen paying tributes before the pyre was lit. A large number of members belonging to the Kashmiri pandit community and others attended the cremation ceremony. Referring to the prevailing security situation in different parts of the Kashmir valley some of the angry members raised serious concerns over the assurances doled out by the Union Territory administration from time to time.
The representatives of the PM Package (displaced) employees, agitating for over 155 days in Jammu in support of their single point demand have decided to continue their struggle and also demanded adequate compensation and an assurance of government job for one of the kin of the deceased family.
Senior civil and police officials of the Jammu district also attended the cremation ceremony.Chairman of Panun Kashmir Ajay Chrungoo said they are caught between genocidal war unleashed on them by jihadi forces with the state of Pakistan as its prime abettor and the denial of genocide by government of India .
The government must pass the 'Prevention of Genocide and Atrocities Bill' as proposed by the Panun Kashmir, he said.
Panun Kashmir convener Agnishekhar said all claims of normalcy in Kashmir have fallen flat in view of the continued killings of the members of the minority community.
"Tourist arrivals and shooting of films are no signs of normalcy.The real normalcy will be when we (Kashmiri pandits) are able to move freely and re-settle there without any fear," he said. Members of the civil society in different parts of Kashmir valley also staged protest demonstrations against the civilian killings, especially members of the minority community and urged the UT administration to provide them fool proof security.