J&K bureaucracy unable to resolve ongoing crisis: Kashmiri Pandits

Srinagar: Prominent representatives of Kashmiri Pandits on Sunday alleged that the bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir is unable to resolve the ongoing crisis. They alleged that the civil society and political stakeholders who could have played a role in resolving these issues have been rendered defunct by the government over the past three years.

"There is a lull and nobody knows who is the next target except The Resistance Front, who are issuing threat letters and executing targeted attacks," said Sanjay Tickoo, who heads the Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti -- an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits who stayed back in the Valley even after the exodus in the late 1980s. The KPSS urged the High Court of J&K and Ladakh to direct the administration to relocate all religious minorities to safer places outside Kashmir. They are expecting a response from the court this week.

"Civil society has been made defunct in Kashmir over the past three years. Otherwise, they also had a stakeholding and voice on the ground. Who will do it now? Everybody fears government reprisal if he speaks and PSA is waiting for them," said Tickoo.

A section of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu has cancelled their plans to attend the annual Zeshta Ashtami festival known as Kheer Bhawani mela that would be held at Kheer Bhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district on June 8.

"This conflict is not about governance or economy. The room which the hotelier rented for ₹1,500 is selling at ₹15,000 but targeted killings are still going on... This should be eye opener for policy makers, who are ignorant about the ground situation," said Satish Mahaldar who heads J&K Peace Forum and Reconciliation, Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants associations.