KPs stage protest demanding relocation of PM package employees from Kashmir
By: Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU: Scores of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) under the banner of Kashmiri Pandits United Front (KPUF) staged a massive demonstration here today demanding relocation of the community members serving in Kashmir Valley under the Prime Minister’s package.
The protesters in large numbers assembled near the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh adjacent to the Tawi Bridge to express their solidarity with the Kashmiri Pandit employees serving in Kashmir, who are on a protest after the killing of Rahul Bhat by terrorists earlier this month.
Raising slogans against the Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory administration, the agitated protesters demanded that the employees engaged under the Prime Minister’s package should be shifted out of the valley as they are not safe there.
They demanded fool-proof security to the community members serving in the Valley.
“We have gathered here to support the protesting employees who are demanding their relocation till the situation improves in the valley,” KPUF Convener, Satish Kissu said.
“Government should relocate Kashmiri Hindu employees outside the Valley to safer places without delay and make a detailed plan for their return to the Valley. It should not be done at the cost of anyone’s life,” he added.
Other protesting Front members said that the employees serving under PM’s package are being targeted in Kashmir, adding that they are no longer safe there.
“These employees are forced to work in difficult conditions. They have been deployed in places where there are huge challenges and there is no security of any kind. They are getting only half the salary. There is no promotion and no accommodation. Not getting any allowance. In the last three years, the government has not been able to protect them. On the contrary, how many have lost their lives because they support the Indian government,” said the protesters.
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
