According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday said that “no Kashmiri Pandit has fled the Kashmir Valley. On July 27, 2022, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai wrote to the Upper House with the information in answer to a question posed by Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan. Rai stated, “According to the data, no Kashmiri Pandit has left the Kashmir Valley during 2022,” when questioned about the specifics of the Kashmiri Pandits who fled the Kashmir Valley in 2022.

 

 

The minister also shared statistics, saying that there will be 6,514 Kashmiri Pandits residing in the Valley as on July 20, 2022. The census shows that Kashmiri Pandits are most prevalent in Kulgam district, where there are 2,639 of them, followed by Budgam (1,204), Anantnag (808), Pulwama (579), Srinagar (455), Shopian (320), Baramulla (294), Ganderbal (130), Bandipora (66), and Kupwara (19). As of 2019, there were 6,432 Kashmiri Pandits residing in the Valley, according to reports. When this survey was conducted, there were 2,557 Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley, 1,204 in Budgam, 808 in Anantnag, 579 in Pulwama, 455 in Srinagar, 320 in Shopian, 294 in Baramulla, 130 in Ganderbal, 66 in Bandipora, and 19 in Kupwara. The information is important at this time because there have been numerous killings in the Valley, including those of Kashmiri Pandits, since last year, and there have been rumours that Kashmiri Pandits are leaving the valley. Terrorists murdered six Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020, 2021, and 2022, according to minister Nityanand Rai. In 2020, one was killed, followed by four in 2021 and one up to July 20, 2022.

 

In a separate response to another MP, the minister Nityanand Rai said that nine government employees excluding security personnel and one Kashmiri Pandit had died in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. He also asserted that the government has a zero-tolerance stance against terrorism and that the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has greatly improved, resulting in a remarkable decrease in terrorist attacks from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021.

One Kashmiri Pandit and nine other government workers have perished in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister Nityanand Rai claimed in a separate response to another MP. Additionally, he claimed that the government has a zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism and that Jammu and Kashmir’s security situation has significantly improved, leading to a notable drop in terrorist assaults from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021.

 

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri Migrants (Special Drive) Recruitment Rules, 2009, which were announced on December 30, 2009, and regarding the postings of the Kashmiri migrants, Nityanand Rai stated that the office holders must operate within the Kashmir Valley and are not entitled to relocation outside the Valley under any circumstances. The minister clarified, however, that the migrants from Kashmir are sent to safer areas in the various districts, tehsils, and headquarters of the Kashmir division. Nityanand Rai said, “Besides, the government has taken several measures to ensure the safety of minorities in the valley. These include a robust security and intelligence grid, day and night area domination, patrolling and proactive operations against terrorists, round-the-clock checking at Nakas, deployment of security forces at strategic points to thwart any terrorist attack.”

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.