“Only a week ago, as a marker of Herath, Sanjay Kumar had distributed Walnuts as prasad among his neighbours and friends,” recalls Mohammad Maqbool, his friend who also works as a security guard at the ATM Sanjay previously worked at for a few thousands, while detailing how the nuclear family of five led a simple life in the neighbourhood.
However, all hell broke loose the week that followed Herath as Sanjay was shot dead Sunday morning at around 10:30, nearly a hundred meters from his home. Sanjay (41), was on a stroll with his wife this morning when his wife stopped at the neighbourhood shop for a moment while Sanjay led on. A sudden sound of a bullet made his wife turn around, only to find Sanjay lying down in a pool of blood.
Everyone including Sanjay’s wife rushed to the spot and put him in the vehicle that took him to the District Hospital, Pulwama. But upon reaching the hospital, Sanjay was declared dead. He has left behind his wife and three kids, the youngest of whom was born the last year.
The body was later sent to his home, where several locals including his friends and neighbours had gathered at their house to mourn his death. The relatives present at his house told The Kashmiriyat that the Sharmas had lived in the area for generations. The family didn’t move out of Kashmir during the 90s when a large number of Pandit families had relocated to Jammu fearing militants.
“The four pandit families have lived in the neighbourhood for ages. All four of them are siblings. Three were still residing here, while the fourth who works in the Police is in Jammu,” said an acquaintance.
Sanjay Sharma, son of Kashi Nath Pandit, who had previously worked as a teacher in a private school, started working as a guard at a Jammu and Kashmir Bank in 2018. He was employed through a private security agency ‘G Active Security’, based in Srinagar, Maqbool told The Kashmiriyat.
“All three of his kids Sakshi, Diksha and Aryan are minors yet,” he stated. The eldest daughter Sakshi went to a local school and was a student of fourth grade, while Aryan, his son was born the last year.
Soon after the incident, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, South Kashmir range, Rayees Muhammad Bhat while addressing reporters said that the police were acting swiftly and investigating the matter and that the (militants) involved in this heinous crime will be tracked down and neutralized soon.
Pertinently, since Pandit families resided in the area, security personnel were deployed in Achan for their protection. While conversing with the locals at his house, it also came to the fore that for almost half a year now, Sanjay had stopped going to work due to security concerns after the killing of Rahul Pandit, last year. He was receiving his salary, nonetheless. He also had some land, where he would cultivate rice.
Rise in targetted killings after abrogation of Article 370
There’s widespread fear among the minorities of Kashmir including the Pandit community after the abrogation of Article 370 in the region. The figures of targeted killings of both migrant and non-migrant minority community members have gone up like never before. As per official data, almost 16 members from the minority Hindu community including the Kashmiri pandits and the migrant labourers had been killed in the region since abrogation.
In the year 2021 itself, 9 members of minority communities were killed including three from the Kashmiri Pandit community. Huge protests broke out in 2022, after the killings of Rajni Bala and Rahul Bhat in May 2022, demanding relocation of those employed under the Prime Minister’s special package in 2008, to Jammu owing to the insecurity in the valley. Much to the disappointment of the Pandit community, the administration didn’t pay much heed to their demands.
As many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other members of minority communities, were killed in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the government informed in 2022 July.
The LG, last year, maintaining that all necessary measures had been taken for the safety of the minority community members serving in Kashmir, said that those on strike won’t be given salaries. He had said that their salaries had been cleared till August 31, but since they were sitting home no salaries will be paid to them.
Resentment over the targeted killing
Following Sanjay’s killing, Shadi Lal Pandita of Soan Kashmir Front, a representative of Kashmiri Pandit community, while condemning the killing raised questions at the ‘facade of normalcy’ created by the BJP administration regarding Kashmir. He said that while the BJP had made large promises of militancy being eradicated after the semi-autonomy of the region was abrogated, militancy still persisted in the region. “How long will the pandits of Kashmir continue to lead their lives in exile from Kashmir?” he asked.
He also said that due to the wrong policies of the government, the Pandits have been in exile from Kashmir for thirty-three years, despite having ownership of land in the valley. “The BJP government has been fooling the world by saying that Kashmiri Pandits have returned to the valley and that they’ve been rehabilitated in the valley, when Pandits are still vulnerable in the region. The wrong policies of this government have only inflicted pain among the residents of the region,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, another representative organization of the Pandits from the valley, took to Twitter and blamed the LG for the killing. “Shame on LG Manoj Sinha. yet another Non-Migrant Kashmiri pandit was working as a guard at an ATM. Near his residence at Achan Pulwama survived his wife and two Children. He was the brother of Bushan Lal Sharma the priest of Kashmiri pandits,” it said in a tweet.
The former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state and the PDP chief, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, paid condolences to the deceased’s family and said that the government had failed to protect the minorities in the region. “The vicious cycle of killings doesn’t seem to end. GOI has failed to protect minorities in J&K & reduced them to sitting ducks. Everyone here is paying a heavy price for this façade of normalcy. My deepest condolences to his family,” she said in a tweet.
The NC leader Omar Abdullah, too, condemned the killing and said in a tweet, “Deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sanjay Pandit of Achan in Pulwama district of South Kashmir. Sanjay was working as a bank security guard & was killed in a militant attack earlier today. I unequivocally condemn this attack & send my condolences to his loved ones.”
Meanwhile, the People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone and the CPI(M) chief of the region Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, too, paid their condolences to the deceased’s family and condemned the target killing.