‘Cruel to force Kashmiri Pandits to back to Valley’: Rahul Gandhi writes to PM Modi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “It is a cruel step to force Kashmiri Pandits, the victims of targeted killing by terrorists, to go to the valley without security guarantees.” Rahul Gandhi said a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits met him during the Bharat Jodo Yatra to discuss the issue and “narrate their sad circumstance”.
In the letter, the Congress leader said the delegation of the Kashmiri Pandits told him that “government officials are forcing them to return to Kashmir.” He added, “Forcing them to return to their work in Kashmir without the guarantee of security is a cruel move. The government can accommodate these Kashmiri Pandit government staff in other departments.”
Rahul Gandhi said in such a situation where the Kashmiri Pandits are worried about their own and their families’ safety, it was “very irresponsible” on the part of Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to use “words like beggar”. “You are perhaps unaware of the insensitive approach of the local administration towards them,” Gandhi added.
“It is very irresponsible of the L-G to use words like ‘beggar’ for them. Probably, you are not aware of the insensitive approach of the local administration,” the letter said.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had demanded an apology from the J&K L-G to apologise to the Kashmiri Pandits for allegedly telling employees recruited under a central scheme that “they should not seek alms”.
As many as 4,000 Kashmiri migrant Pandits are employed in different departments under the prime minister’s employment package announced in 2008. However, several employees fled to Jammu after one of their colleagues, Rahul Bhat, was shot dead by terrorists inside his office in Budgam district on May 12, 2022. The incident was described as a case of targeted killing.
