Kashmiri Pandits fleeing valley in droves., BJP playing politics: Sanjay Singh

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh on Friday lashed out at the BJP for another Kashmiri Pandit exodus and said the BJP-led government is wasting time playing politics instead of actually working on the ground. “Today, horrible incidents are being reported from various parts of Kashmir, causing a deep sense of anguish to take over the entire country. The Kashmiri Pandit community is fleeing the valley in droves. They have been compelled to feel alien and foreign in their own land by divisive and violent forces,” Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said at a press conference here.

“Kashmiri Pandits have been forced into an exodus for the second time. In 1990, a BJP-backed government was in power, and again now, a full-majority Modi Government seems clueless as lives are ruined. BJP leader Jagmohan was the Governor of Kashmir in 1990 who oversaw the first exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, the same man was given the Padma Shri by the Modi government,” he added.

“Terrorists are atrociously murdering Kashmiri Pandits in the valley while the BJP Government fails to provide security to them. Kashmiri Pandits are facing a large-scale exodus; they’ve been made to feel like strangers and foreigners in their own homeland. Kashmiri Pandits are escaping the state with their young children, elderly parents, and wives.

The Union Territory has been rattled by a string of targeted killings in the recent months, with Vijay Kumar, a manager with the Ilaquai Dehati Bank, being shot in Kulgam district on Thursday. Kumar was a native of Rajasthan.

Terrorists shot dead Kumar inside the bank premises, the eighth targeted killing in the Valley since May 1 and the third of a non-Muslim government employee.

Various political parties have attacked the BJP over the Kashmir situation and sought answers from the local administration for the spurt in targeted killings.

“BJP leaders used to promise that Kashmiri Pandits would be rehabilitated. Leave aside rehabilitation, the existing residents have had to migrate. Rather than being concerned about the safety and security of Kashmiri Pandits, the BJP is preoccupied with how opposition leaders can be implicated. All they have done in power is to publicise the Kashmir Files movie that sold their pain and played politics over their misery,” Singh said.

“Terrorists are ruthlessly murdering Kashmiri Pandits, while the government has failed miserably in ensuring their safety. Innocent Kashmiri Pandits have been imprisoned in their own homes; their colonies turned into jails. These people have been detained and confined to their homes for simply demonstrating against the violence they face. They are being beaten with sticks and attacked with tear gas shells for raising their concerns regarding their security,” he added.