JJ CORRESPONDENT
Srinagar, Oct 15: Seven Kashmiri Pandit families who had temporarily migrated after a series of targeted killings are back home again, a non migrant Pandits leader said on Friday.
These families had moved from south Kashmir in the initial days after the civilian killings took place.
“Seven families from south Kashmir are back home again. They had moved out due to a lot of fear,” President of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) Sanjay Tickoo said, adding that none of the Pandit families from Srinagar had migrated after the recent incidents.
He said that from past few days, Muslim neighbours have also reached out to them and it has given a lot of confidence to Kashmiri Pandits.
“The fear among us has surely decreased after such meetings and our people have started moving out for work from the last two days,” KPSS President said.
There are over 800 Kashmiri Pandit families living in different parts of Kashmir.
On the eve of October 5, a Kashmiri Pandit and owner of a famous chemist in Srinagar Makhan Lal Bindroo was killed by militants. An hour later two civilians including a hawker from Bihar were killed in two separate incidents. Two days later, teachers from the minority Sikh and Hindu community were shot dead in broad daylight by militants in a school in Srinagar. These killings spread panic among the minorities.
Meanwhile, on the appeal of non migrant Pandits, the mosque committees on Friday asked the people of all faiths to live in harmony. An appeal was made from one of Srinagar’s famous shrines- the shrine of Dastgeer Sahab during a Friday congregation prayers and people were asked to maintain unity and communal harmony. UNI
