JAMMU: Amid a sudden spike in attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, labourers and police personnel in the Kashmir Valley, former Jammu and Kashmir police chief Shesh Paul Vaid on Tuesday urged Home Minister Amit Shah to arm Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley with licensed weapons, for their protection at their residence, during transit and at their workplace.
Terming the killing of labourers as an act to sabotage the development push of the Union Government, Vaid also called upon local Kashmiris to actively take part in ensuring their safety.
At least 27 minorities, labourers and police personnel have lost their lives in targeted attacks in the Kashmir Valley this year. Of these, eleven civilians, including migrant workers and local residents, have been killed since May, including two labourers from Kanoj in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The latest attack came two days after the killing of Puran Krishan Bhat, the fourth Kashmiri Pandit to be killed in the last 12 months.
Vaid tagged Home Minister Amit Shah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Twitter, suggesting a ‘possible course of action’ in the wake of recent repeated killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
Asserting that Kashmiri Pandit community have been targeted for decades, Vaid said that there needs to be drawn a composite comprehensive security plan at the highest level in the Union Territory of J&K.
“They (KPs) need to be protected at their residence, during transit and at their workplace. To make their security more effective, they should be equipped with self-defense training with requisite weapons and issued arms license on priority basis,” wrote Vaid on his official Twitter handle.
“Government employees posted in remote areas under the PM scheme are exposed to a greater threat. Their services should be used from either secure offices in the Valley or relocated to Jammu temporarily,” said Vaid, in a series of tweets.
Vaid also said that the killing of Labourers in Kashmir was being done with a clear purpose to sabotage the development push of the Union Government.
“It is impractical for security forces to provide security cover to each and every labourer working in the Valley, however every labourer working needs to register at the local Police Station /SHO. The workforce from across India moving to Kashmir are of vital importance for Kashmir’s development and economy. Local Kashmiri community needs to actively take part in securing that the Labourer is not harmed,” he said.
Vaid, who took over as J&K Police Director General of Police in from 2016 during a time when the state was experiencing turmoil post-Burhan Wani’s killing, was removed from the top post in September 2018, after militants killed four policemen and abducted a number of cops and their families from south Kashmir.
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