Meer Irfan
Chowdrigund, located in south Kashmir’s Shopian district is in the news after a Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by suspected militants on Saturday morning in the village.
The issue of the security of Kashmiri Pandits is again being discussed after the 41-year-old Pooran Krishan Bhat son of Tarak Nath Bhat, a resident of Chowdrigund in Shopian– base to one of the largest Army camps in Shopian district.
An apple farmer by profession, Pooran was getting himself the warmth of October’s pleasant sun in his courtyard when unknown gunmen fired at him.
As the locals heard the gunshots, they rushed to his house and took him to the nearby hospital, Locals told The Kashmiriyat.
However, they said, upon his arrival at the hospital, Pooran was declared brought dead by the doctors.
Pooran is survived by two minor children, an eleven-year-old daughter, and an eight-year-old son. “His wife and two children are in Jammu,” they said.
The family is among ten other families that did not leave the Kashmir valley in the 1990s when an armed insurgency broke out in the valley and thousands of Kashmiri Pandit families left the valley.
Locals said that the area is located barely 500 metres from the Chowrigund area of Shopian where an Army camp is located. “There was a Police post dedicated to the protection of Kashmiri Pandit families left here, however, in 2016 the post was removed,” they told The Kashmiriyat.
Meanwhile, Kashmiri Pandits have hit the streets in Jammu to condemn the killings and demand relocation from the valley to safer places.
Notably, Kashmiri pandits have been protesting and demanding “relocation” since the killing of their community member, Rahul Bhatt who was shot dead by militants in Budgam in the month of May 2022.
The Jammu Kashmir administration recently issued orders to stop the salaries of Kashmiri Hindus employees protesting in the valley for months demanding their relocation to a safer place amid targeted killings of minorities by the militants.
The labour department of Kashmir and additional deputy commissioner, Anantnag is,sued orders to stop the salaries of Kashmiri migrant employees on strike in the valley In his order, Deputy Labour Commissioner (DLC) Kashmir Ahmad Hussain Bhat directed all assistant labour commissioners across districts in the Kashmir valley to stop the salaries of these employees for September.
The Jammu Kashmir National Conference has condemned the killing stating, “Unequivocally condemn the brazen, cowardly attack on Pooran Krishan Bhat in Shopian, in which he lost his life. Heartfelt commiserations to his family and loved ones. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”