Rahul Bhat’s killing: BJP leaders face protesters’ wrath in J-K’s Budgam

Team Udayavani, May 16, 2022, 9:49 AM IST

Image credit: AP

Srinagar: Senior leaders of Jammu and Kashmir BJP on Sunday faced protesters’ ire when they visited the migrant colony at Sheikhpura in Budgam district as a Kashmiri Pandit woman tore into the Union Territory government over the killing of Rahul Bhat earlier this week.

The woman, who broke down while making the point on behalf of her community, said the BJP delegation, led by party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit president Ravinder Raina, had come to visit them only because they felt that they were losing ground in the state.

”Where were they when tear gas shells were fired on us? When they realised that we have come together at all places, and that their impression is gone, they held a meeting with the LG (Lieutenant Governor) sahib and they were sent to calm us down. If you are really grieved, sit with us here without security,” the unidentified woman told the BJP delegation.

An 88-second video clip of the woman hitting out at the BJP leaders at the protest site is being shared on social media.

The BJP delegation had earlier called on LG Manoj Sinha and submitted a memorandum, demanding measures to ensure safety of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley.

Bhat, who had got the job of a clerk under the special employment package for Kashmiri Pandits 2010-11, was gunned down by terrorists inside the tehsil office in Chadoora town on Thursday.

The woman said the men and children of the Kashmiri Pandit community are not safe amidst words of encouragement and support from her community members.

”Our men are not safe here, our children are not safe (as she broke into tears)…Their government is so impotent that they could not bring us here from two kilometers away,” she alleged. The other protesting women urged her to stay brave and not cry.

”Don’t cry, we don’t have to cry. Now they have to cry,” the protesting women shouted. As the woman continued, she alleged that the Kashmiri Pandits were ill-treated in the Civil Secretariat, the seat of Jammu and Kashmir government.

”Do you know what is our value in the secretariat? Nothing. Their officials chased us away from the office,” she alleged without naming any officer.