NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Days after terrorists entered a government office and shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit employee, Jammu & Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha on Sunday informed PAGD and BJP delegations that PM package employees, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, will be deployed in secure and safer district and tehsil headquarters in view of the recent terror attacks on them.
After meeting the governor, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) urged Kashmiri Pandits to not leave the Valley, adding they share equal pain and will bear this tragedy together.
J&K government sources said during the meeting with PAGD leaders, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M)'s M Y Tarigami, NC MP Hasnain Masoodi and Awami National Conference senior vice president Muzaffar Shah, the Lt Governor assured the delegation that necessary action was being taken by the administration for safety and security of PM package employees.
The assurance came a couple of days after over 350 PM package employees resigned in protest against the targeted killing of Rahul Bhat by terrorists in Budgam.
Lt Governor Sinha informed the delegation that security forces have been given full freedom to act against the targeted killings and said those aiding and abetting terrorists will not be spared. He told the delegation that all PM package employees will be shifted to secure district and tehsil headquarters and to address other issuesa special cell has been constituted in LG secretariat to address other issues. All parties are welcome to give their suggestions, he said.
Sinha also met a delegation led by BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina and general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul, which handed over a memorandum to the LG and appealed for action on the set of demands related to PM package employees. BJP leaders also requested Sinha to look into the promotion grievances of PM package employees.
PAGD spokesperson MY Tarigami, while speaking to reporters, said the Valley is as much home to Kashmiri Pandits as to Kashmiri Muslims. If Kashmiri Pandits want to leave in the wake of Bhat's murder, what about the families of slain Kashmiri Muslims, he asked. "If Rahul was killed, Riyaz was also killed. You don't have to leave your home. This is your home, this is my home. We will bear this tragedy together," he said.