Jammu: Protests demanding transfer of Kashmiri Pandits, Dogra employees from Kashmir continue

Dogras and Kashmiri Pandits on Monday continued their protests demanding that employees from the two communities posted in Kashmir be relocated here in the wake of the targeted killings of minorities in the Valley. Dogra employees assembled under the banner of "All Jammu-based Reserved Categories Employees Association" at Panama Chowk here for the sixth day and staged a sit-in to press their demand for transfer from the Valley to their home districts in the Jammu region. These employees returned to Jammu following the killing of their colleague Rajni Bala. A resident of Samba district, Bala was shot dead by terrorists at a school in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on May 31.

Separately, a group of migrant Kashmiri Pandit activists affiliated with the Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust held a protest demonstration at the Press Club here in support of the PM package employees who have been on a strike in the Valley following the killing of their colleague Rahul Bhat on May 12. Bhat, a clerk, was shot dead inside the tehsildar's office in Chadoora tehsil of Budgam district. Chanting slogans and carrying placards, the protesters said the government should accede to the demands of the protesting PM package employees and temporarily transfer them to Jammu till the security situation in the Valley improves.

"The majority of the employees have already returned from Kashmir and are reluctant to go back in view of the grim situation. The government has transferred over 10 percent of the employees, who are close relatives of BJP leaders, to Jammu," a protester claimed. He said the spate of targeted killings in Kashmir has created fear and uncertainty among the minorities serving in the Valley.

Scores of Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under the prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat. Bhat's killing sparked demonstrations by around 6,000 Kashmiri Pandit employees at various places. They demanded they be relocated outside the Valley. However, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday made it clear the employees would not be moved out of the Valley but transferred to safer locations.