Pandits’ killings: Intercepted messages signal grim times for J&K

With no let-up in the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and non-local labourers that began in the Valley 18 months ago, intercepted messages by militant outfits on social media and chat applications are sending ominous signals. Hours after the little-known outfit Kashmir Tigers claimed responsibility for the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit employee at his office in Budgam, a web portal, apparently run by the militants and monitored by the security agencies, had a post which said that the fresh targets would be “migrant Pandits who are getting government jobs especially in departments which are important for demographic changes”. Security forces are already on high alert in Kashmir, and the Jammu and Kashmir police have taken “several measures this year to ensure safety of minorities”, besides increasing area dominance of locations where Pandits live and non-local labourers work. A police investigation into the first killing of a minor community member following the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August 2019, suggested that militants started attacks on minorities on December 31 that year when Nischal, 62, a goldsmith, was shot dead in his shop on the busy Hari Singh High Street in Srinagar just days after he obtained a domicile certificate. Official data suggest that at least 16 Kashmiri Pandits and non-local Hindus have been killed by militants in Kashmir after the special status of J&K was revoked in 2019.