Omkar Dattatray
The lives of Kashmiri Pandit package employees are as precious as the lives of other people. These unfortunate employees should not be made sacrificial goats by the powers. The package employees are performing their duties under most trying circumstances as they are working under perpetual threat to their lives because they are being targeted and killed by the terrorists for no fault of theirs and for the only reason of professing other faith and being Kashmiri Pandits. There is continuous scare and fear among these employees and they are feeling oppressed and depressed and are working in threat to their lives. They are agitating for the fulfillment and resolution of their genuine and only demand of being relocated to safer places outside the valley so that they are saved from the jaws of the terrorists and do not fall prey to the sadistic terrorists who are always on their prowl. The package employees are agitating in different places of the valley including the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir-Srinagar for attracting the attention of the government towards their demand of relocation outside Kashmir to different states of India but unfortunately the insensitive BJP government of the centre and the deaf LG administration is not paying an y heed to the agitation of the package employees and thus these employees stand dejected, ignored and forlorn. There is continuous threat to their lives while living and working across Kashmir as their lives are not safe but are at great risk as a number of them have been shot dead by the terrorists and day in and day out threat warnings are issued and given to them and they are asked to leave Kashmir or otherwise face the serious consequences and killings. Thus there is fear psychosis in the package employees and they demand their temporary adjustment in Jammu division and other states of India. There is threat perception among Prime Minister Employment package employees and they do not feel safe in Kashmir and performing their duties is now not possible because there is no normalcy in Kashmir and the conditions resemble to the hay days of the terrorism of 1990 and as such their life, limb and dignity is under attack and is not safe. The package employees work at the cost of their lives and the rulers turn a deaf year towards their sad plight and threat to their life. On May 12, one of their colleagues was killed while working in his office in the central district of Budgam and the barbaric incident sent shock waves across Jammu and Kashmir particularly among minority Pandit community and PM package employees. After the incident, PM package employees are fear stricken and frightened and they feel it humanly impossible to discharge their duties across Kashmir. They want safety to their life and limb which is not possible while living an d working in Kashmir and thus they are agitating from the last twelve days for their evacuation and relocation to safer places outside valley so that their lives are not put and subjected to the risk of being killed by the terrorists. The unfortunate and hapless package employees are not agitating for the service related matters and for the facilities of drinking water, electricity and other such things but they are agitating for the safety to their lives and which is possible only when the government orders their relocation outside the Kashmir and in the present circumstances it is the genuine demand and the powers should accept this demand to save the lives of the package employees otherwise they will continue to be targeted and killed in the line of their duty and this is a very serious matter and the government should arise from deep slumber and fulfill the only demand of relocation of agitating employees so that they are saved from the bullets of the terrorists. There is no normalcy in Kashmir and the tourist footfall in Kashmir is because of the scorching heat outside the valley and this is no parameter and sign of normalcy because both Hindus and Muslims are killed by the terrorists and so there is no normalcy and in such atmosphere of fear and scare the package employees cannot perform their duties across Kashmir because the fear of gun is looming large and is consuming precious lives. The BJP has only elicited votes from this minuscule minority Kashmiri Pandit community and is using the cause and sad plight of the Kashmiri Pandits for vote bank purpose and is insensitive to the genuine demands of the Kashmiri Pandits and package employees and does not pay any heed towards the Pandits and package employees while they are getting killed while performing their duties. There Wales and woes has no effect on the ruling BJP dispensation and the LG administration and they continue to be killed by the terrorists and the government says that everything is normal. The BJP’s balloon of normalcy has busted by the killings of the soft targets which are taking place on an average and soaking the valley with the innocent blood and the government busy in propagating false normalcy and there are no takers of this normalcy claim of the BJP. The people belonging to minorities including the Kashmiri Pandits and the package employees are becoming cannon fodders before the guns of the terrorists and they stand sandwiched between the guns of the terrorists and the apathy of the insensitive centre and LG administration. The package employees are caught between the guns of the terrorists and the indifference of the insensitive government and thus they are subjected to the great risk to their lives and government turning a deaf ear to their genuine demands and trying to sabotage their agitation by making sinister efforts to divide them so that their unity move fails. But the package employees should remain united in their fight against the rulers so that at the end they will succeed in their genuine fight. The package employees cannot work in the fear and threat to their lives as they are exposed to the threats of the terrorists who have warned them to leave valley otherwise face death. The government should come to the rescue of the package employees and wipe tears from their eyes and balm their hurt feelings by acceding to their genuine demand of relocation to Jammu division and other states of the country. If the BJP government is really interested in the welfare of the Kashmiri Pandit community and the package employees they should be sensitive to their demands and order their relocation to safer places outside Kashmir for the time being so that they are saved from the gun tottering terrorists. The BJP is only earning wrath from the Kashmiri Pandit community and the package employees for their indifference and reluctance to the genuine demands and in the coming days they will not vote for the BJP and instead chose other political alternatives like AAP. The AAP Chief and Chief Minister of Delhi Kejriwal deserves praise and kudus for declaring that he will adjust all the package employees in Delhi if the centre government agrees. But the centre BJP government does not want to come to the help an d rescue of the package employees and it seems that the killings of the Pandit employees has no effect on it as the BJP dispensation is silent on the killings of Pandit employees. Now the LG of J&K UT Manoj Sinha has paid a visit to Budgam’s Sheikhpora and met the agitating Package employees. It is hoped that very soon the LG will recommend to the centre government the relocation of the package employees outside the valley to Jammu division and other places of India which is the only genuine demand of the package employees. It is pertinent to mention here that the BJP government has done nothing for the uprooted and displaced community of Kashmir Pandits except of using them for vote bank purpose in different states of India and dumping them when the community needs their help. To conclude one can say that Package employees should not be made sacrificial goats by the Government.
(The author is a columnist and social activist.
