In the aftermath of targeted terror attacks on non-Muslims posted in remote locations, Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha ordered all migrant personnel in the Union Territory to report to their respective district offices by June 6 for safety reasons.
Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah has called a meeting with Sinha for Friday in New Delhi to examine the current situation, which has seen a spike in targeted killings of migrant government employees in Kashmir.
According to a top official, around 4,500 migrant workers are stationed in district or municipal town regions. “Around 500 employees, including around 100 couples, were transferred to sites favoured by them in the last week,” the official said, adding that non-migrant personnel would be considered for postings to safer places “as per option by Saturday.”
Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits and other migrants were offered government employment as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to entice them back to Kashmir in 2013. Hundreds of people returned, and the government built clusters for them to live in throughout numerous districts. However, dozens of migrant job seekers, particularly in south Kashmir, rented private housing.
Many migrant government employees fled the valley for Jammu and other regions of the country after the nullification of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution. However, in October of last year, the divisional administration urged all migrant employees to return to their jobs, resulting in hundreds of migrant employees returning to their jobs.
Terrorists then turned their attention to migrant workers, killing a dozen of them, including authorities. Two female instructors were among the terrorists’ victims, one of which was a Sikh lady who was not a migrant.
On Wednesday, LG Manoj Sinha directed officials to ensure that migrant government employees in J&K have adequate security and secure housing.
Terrorists had shot and killed a woman named Rajni Bala in the Gopalpora area of Kulgam district in south Kashmir the day before. Terrorists assassinated revenue official Rahul Bhat on May 12 in Chadoora, Budgam district. Amreen Bhat, a TV actress, was shot and killed at her house in Chadoora last week.
Meanwhile, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Union home secretary, met with UT chief secretary Arun Mehta and other UT administrative secretaries. Mehta informed the home secretary that 6,000 tenements for Kashmiri Pandit migrants were being built in the valley at a rapid rate. According to Mehta, 1,324 tenements would be finished by December 2022 and 672 tenements by October 2023. He expressed confidence that the remaining work would be finished by 2023.
-
-
-
-
