SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha vowed to avenge the killing of Kashmiri Pandit bank guard Sanjay Sharma, while political parties condemned the incident, with PDP hitting out at the government on hollow claims of restoring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, even as the last rites of Sharma were performed at his native village in Pulwama district of the Valley.
The 40-year-old Sharma was shot dead by the terrorists in Pulwama district on Sunday, in a local market, adding to the series of targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandit community member in Kashmir.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha termed the incident “unfortunate” and said the killers of Sharma will be brought to book.
“Our security forces will take care of whoever has carried out this unfortunate act,” he said, adding that the security situation was much better than before in Jammu and Kashmir but the administration is making efforts to secure the people.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who visited the family of the slain, hit out at the government for its claims of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The government says that there is no militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Who has killed Sharma then,” she asked.
Mehbooba also demanded that the widow of Sharma be provided a job by the government to look after their three kids.
Ravinder Raina, Jammu and Kashmir president of Bharatiya Janata Party also visited Pulawama to pay his condolences to the family of the slain.
Terming the incident as a heinous crime which that has put humanity to shame, Raina said that the terrorists have once again killed an innocent person turning the land of Kashmir red.
Accompanied by J&K BJP Vice-President Sofi Yusuf, Spokesperson Altaf Thakur, District President Pulwama Latif Bhat, DDC Minha Latif, Vice-President District Anantnag Pinka Malik, former District President Sajjad Raina and other BJP leaders, Ravinder Raina also took part in his “Antim Yatra” (final journey).
“It is heart shattering to witness such incidents. Terrorists who are working on the instructions of Pakistan have murdered humanity once again. There can be no words to describe such brutal incidents”, Raina said.
Raina said, “These killings are to sabotage the peace and progress process in the valley. But we have full faith in our brave security forces that will decimate the killers in no time”.
Raina further stated that the whole BJP family stands with the aggrieved family members of the heavenly led soul. The BJP family will always be standing through every thick and thin with the family and will ensure that every justice is delivered to the family.
The BJP held protests at several places in Kashmir against the killing of Sharma.
Dozens of BJP workers demonstrated against the killing at Jawahar Nagar area of the city and also burnt an effigy of Pakistan, blaming it for the killings. The protestors were led by Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, Head, Media and IT cell of BJP.
Protests were also held at Kulgam on Monday while a candle light vigil was organised against the killing in Pulwama and Baramulla on Sunday night.
In Jammu, the BJP District Jammu and District Jammu South held strong protests while burning an effigy of terrorism at Kachi Chawni, Jammu.
BJP District Jammu President Pramod Kapahi and BJP District South President Rekha Mahajan led the protest.
Former Deputy Mayor Purnima Sharma, District Jammu General Secretaries Rajesh Gupta & Kuldeep Kandhari, District Jammu South General Secretaries Pushpinder Charak & Akash Chopra, Mandal Presidents Parveen Kerni, Ajay Sharma, Keshav Chopra, Atul Bakshi, Raman Sharma, Ranjit Singh, JMC Councillors Dinesh Mahajan, Suneet Raina, Anil Masoom and others were among the prominent present in the protest.
Pramod Kapahi strongly condemned the heinous crime while staging the protest at busy Chowk of Jammu. He said the terrorists at the behest of the failed Pakistan state have once again claimed a precious human life. He added that such acts would not be tolerated at any cost.
Rekha Mahajan, condemning the targeted killing, stated that the incident has left everyone speechless. She said that the Modi Government has given a free hand to brave Indian Jawans to deal sternly with these enemies of humanity and soon the culprits would be neutralized.
Hurriyat Conference also condemned the killing of Sharma.
Terming the killing as a “gruesome act”, the separatist amalgam led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir have been reduced to mere ‘sitting ducks’ and there seems no end to this tragedy in the future, and expressed sympathies with the bereaved family.
Earlier in the day, mortal remains of Sharma were consigned to flames according to Hindu rituals.
The Muslims neighbours of Sharma helped his family members to perform the last rites. Sharma’s family is the only Pandit family living in the village, and today his friends and the neighbors from the Muslim community took it upon themselves to help perform the last rites.
They also shouldered his coffin and arranged wood for the cremation. “He was one of us. We never thought of him as a KP. We arranged everything needed for the cremation,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a local resident.
He said they have lived alongside each other and done everything together.
“We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard this sad news, all of us rushed to console the family members and today arranged everything to help perform the last rites,” he added.
Sanjay’s relatives also said that Muslims of the village always help them in times of need and they don’t intervene in the religious affairs. “They (Muslims) sit at a distance when a ritual has to be done by a Pandit, but rest of the arrangements were arranged by them,” they said.
Add Comment