The targeted attacks on migrant workers and local minorities in Kashmir, which started last year, are rising dangerously. A bank manager from Rajasthan was shot dead by a terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam on Thursday in the second targeted attack on Hindus in the valley in three days. The attack comes just two days after a Hindu teacher from Jammu, Rajni Bala, was killed by terrorists outside a school, also in Kulgam. Ever since the withdrawal of Article 370, followed by dividing of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into three union territories, the situation is worsening in the Kashmir valley.
The situation is so bad that the 4,000 Kashmiri Pandits employed in the valley under a prime minister’s rehabilitation package have threatened mass migration, claiming they no longer feel safe. To stop them from leaving, the union territory administration put up barricades and locked gates to transit camps. Unfortunately, the minority Hindus of the Kashmir valley are suffering untold misery for no fault of theirs. With India deeply divided on religious lines, the situation looks bleak for the Kashmiri Hindus. The government of India under the BJP has taken a hard line and is refusing to initiate any kind of peace effort with the separatists to try bringing peace in the valley. The Kashmiri terrorists are also increasing their attack and are acting belligerent. With the situation remaining a stalemate, it is the citizens who are going to suffer in the long run.