By PTI
NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday greeted Kashmiri Pandits on the occasion of ‘Jyeshtha Ashtami’ and said the entire country stands shoulder to shoulder with them in their happiness and sorrow.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor’s remarks came in the backdrop of the spate of targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir.
“Today is the holy day of Jyeshtha Ashtami. (I extend my) warm wishes to all Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters on this auspicious day. May the blessings of Maa Kheer Bhavani always be with you all,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
“I want to assure the Kashmiri Pandit community that the entire country is standing shoulder to shoulder with you in your every happiness and sorrow,” he said.
The AAP has been raising the issue of targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits for the past few weeks.
The party held a ‘Jan Aakrosh Rally’ at Jantar Mantar here on June 5 over the issue.
Addressing the rally, Kejriwal lashed out at the BJP-led central government for failing to provide security to Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
He also demanded that the Centre put forth an action plan to stop the killings.
The Delhi chief minister on Tuesday said he has sought an appointment with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
The spate of targeted killings in Kashmir started in May, which included that of Rahul Bhat, a clerk, who was shot dead inside the tehsildar’s office in Budgam district’s Chadoora.
Of the eight targeted killings since May 1, three victims were off-duty policemen and five were civilians.
Expressing concern over “grim security situation” in Kashmir in the wake of unabated targeted killings, Jammu-based Dogra Sadar Sabha (DSS) president G S Charak on Wednesday urged the government to involve civil society and mainstream leaders to restore peace and stop “exodus” of minorities and “nationalist Muslims” from the Valley.
He also denounced attempts by mischievous elements to harm communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir and said “any miscreant, irrespective of religion, region, caste and colour, must be brought to book without any bias”.
“We are concerned over the situation which is slipping back to the 1990s with minority Hindus and Sikhs along with nationalist Muslims planning to migrate from the valley,” Charak, a former minister, told reporters here after a core group meeting of his organisation.
Accusing the central government of mishandling the situation, he said using police and other security agencies and propagating that everything is under control is not going to help improve the security situation in the valley.
“The ruling party needs to review its policies, both within Jammu and Kashmir and at the international level, to scuttle nefarious designs of Pakistan which was successful in driving out minority Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and is once again making efforts in this direction.
The gap between the people and the government is widening with each passing day which is not a good sign and a concern for all of us.
The government needs to have a relook on its policy towards J-K and involve civil society and mainstream politicians from all parties, Charak said.
“Anyone supporting Pakistan should be taken to task but those leaders who believe in India and its democratic process should be taken into confidence and consulted for restoration of peace and normalcy,” he said.
He said Dogra Sader Sabha is over a century old organisation but its repeated requests for a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor was not responded to.
“We have played a key role whenever there was a crisis like situation in the past. We have written to the LG for a meeting but there was no response till date, which is very surprising,” he said.
Appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving key posts to local bureaucrats, he said the officers from outside do not know the ground realities and are causing more harm than any good.
Earlier, Charak said the core group of the Sabha condemned Pakistan and its intelligence agencies for its continued support to terrorism in J-K.
“The government should take effective punitive measures against Pakistan who sponsors, supports and provides arms for killings of the innocent population of Kashmiri Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs, besides other non-Kashmiri Indians who are engaged in providing various services to the common citizen there,” he said.
