Jammu, Oct 6 (PTI) Several organisations representing the Kashmiri Pandit community and some Jammu-based outfits staged anti-Pakistan protests here on Wednesday over the killing of businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo and two other civilians by terrorists.
They demanded enhanced security for the Kashmiri Pandit community.
Activists of the Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS) led by its president R K Bhat staged a protest in Jammu over the killings and raised slogans against Pakistan.
“We demand justice. We demand punishment for culprits. This is a move to scuttle the plan of return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindus back in the valley,” Bhat told reporters here.
He said that Pakistan is the epicentre of terrorism in Kashmir and it needs to be dealt with sternly.
Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits living in Jagti town also held a protest and demanded justice for the Bindroo family.
They alleged that several members of the community were killed by terrorists in Kashmir in the past few months, but the government has failed to protect them.
Bindroo, a Kashmiri Pandit, was gunned down by terrorists at his pharmacy in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Bindroo was one of the few in his community who did not migrate out of Kashmir at the onset of militancy in 1990. He stayed back along with his wife to continue operating his business, which was a trusted name for quality medicines.
Barely a few minutes after the killing of Bindroo, militants gunned down a roadside vendor identified as Virendra Paswan, a resident of Bhagalpur in Bihar, near Hawal Chowk in Srinagar.
Militants also shot dead Mohammad Shafi Lone at Naidkhai in Bandipora district of north Kashmir.
Activists of the Shiv Sena and the Dogra Front took out rallies in Jammu in protest against the killings.
They raised anti-Pakistan slogans and burnt a flag of Pakistan.
“The government must deal with terrorists, their supporters within Kashmir with an iron hand before dealing with Pakistan. Justice should be delivered,” Shiv Sena leader Ashok Gupta said.
These terror attacks are aimed at derailing the plan of the government to resettle Kashmiri Pandits back in the Kashmir Valley, he said.
Activists of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and the KP Sabha also held protests.