The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday issued orders to stop the salaries of Kashmiri Pandit employees who have been holding protests since the killing of Rahul Bhat on May 12, seeking better security measures and relocation outside the Valley. The move has irked employees who have threatened to intensify their protests which entered its 133rd day on Thursday.
The protests followed the killing on Rahul Bhat who was shot dead by terrorists in broad daylight inside his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam district on May 12.
The labour department of Kashmir and additional deputy commissioner, Anantnag, on Wednesday issued orders to stop the salaries of the protesting employees for the month of September.
“Salary for the month of September 2022 should not be drawn in respect of those PM package employees, who have remained absent during the month of September,” the order by Deputy Labour Commissioner (DLC) Kashmir Ahmad Hussain Bhat read, PTI reported.
Under the Prime Minister’s Special Package in 2012, as many as 3,000 Kashmiri pandit youths had been accommodated under it.
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The striking employees have called it “a step towards harassment of the community”, alleging a “conspiracy” against them.
Hundreds of employees held protests under the banner of All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir (AMEAK), one of the organisations spearheading the agitation, amid sloganeering of “we want relocation” and “we want justice”.
The Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the PM’s special package who are posted in different parts of the Valley said they were soft targets for the terrorists and the government has failed to protect them.
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The government has repeatedly attempted to end the impasse assuring the employees that they will be moved to safer locations inside the Valley.