A group of rehabilitated Kashmiri Pandits sent the Kashmir administration in a tizzy when they threatened to leave the Valley in protest against stone-pelting on their houses in a village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. A group of villagers pelted stones on the Pandit employees’ colony in reaction to district administration’s order to demolish some residential structures allegedly raised on State land illegally.
A Minister along with a contingent of 12 top-ranking officers visited the village early on Tuesday and pacified the Pandit employees to stay put. The separatist Hurriyat Conference has condemned the incident and described it as handiwork of miscreants with communal bent of mind. The rehabilitated Pandits are residing at a village on Shopian-Pulwama road, around 40 kilometers from here. They are Government employees, appointed during the last two years under a special package to rehabilitate displaced Kashmiri Pandits back in the Valley.
Sources said the trouble erupted on Monday afternoon when Deputy Commissioner Pulwama Manzoor Ahmad lone called upon the Pandits to inquire about their facilities and security. On his return from the colony, lone came across some illegal constructions coming up on State land and he ordered to dismantle them. Sources said that the encroachers of State land in reaction to DC’s orders targeted the Pandit houses. They alleged that the Pandits encouraged the administration to carry out the demolition process.
A few houses were damaged in the stone-pelting as it created a sense of insecurity among the Pandit families. The police swung into action and chased away the attackers with cane charging and tear smoke shelling. On Tuesday, J&K Minister Aijaz Khan along with a contingent of officers arrived at Hall village to boost the minority’s morale. He ensured that the genuine grievances would be immediately addressed. The authorities formed an eight-member committee of the Pandits to take up their issues with the administration.
Meanwhile, the authorities prevented a separatist Hurriyat Conference delegation from visiting the Pandit Colony. The moderate Hurriyat described the Pandits as “inalienable part of the Kashmiri society and said that the onus of providing protection to their life and property falls on majority community”. A spokesman of Hurriyat condemned the incident involving bullying of Pandits at Pulwama saying communal elements were trying hard to torn apart the communal bonhomie of Kashmiris and push the society into chaos and violence.