Hail Muslim neighbours but they too are helpless in the face of attacks
Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Aug 19 (KNO): Kashmiri pandits living in Chotigam Shopian are in shock and awe after the recent targeted killing attack of a Kashmiri Pandit.
On Tuesday, Sunil Kumar was killed while his cousin brother was injured after they were attacked by militants in their orchard in Chotigam Shopian.
Pandits living at Chotigam told news agency KNO that their biggest mistake was that they decided to stay here during ‘90s.
They said that though they had very good relations with Muslims living here, they too are helpless when such attacks or any such incidents happen.
“Just few people of the pandit community are here and from cleaning house to helping in household chores, everything is being managed by Muslims and they are taking every possible step to console us but whenever at the time of attack, like us they too are helpless,” they said.
“No security guards were here since 2016 to give us protection and we were never harassed by anyone but the situation is different as we were attacked twice in a span of less than 5 months,” they said.
“We also made mistake that we decided to stay here after one attack and if we decided to stay here again after back to back attacks it will be a suicide,” they said.
They said that guards are deployed in the village but how can they save as “we can't restrict our movement to our residence only as we have to go to our land, orchards or to do any work to earn livelihood otherwise we will die of starvation”.
“It is better for us to beg and live in a tent at a safer place than to live here,” they said—(KNO)
