Samba: A 13-member Kashmiri Pandit delegation met Rahul Gandhi at Zamindara dhaba in the Bari Brahma area of Jammu’s Samba district during Bharat Jodo Yatra (unite India) foot march on Monday where Kashmiri Pandits, told Gandhi that the LG government had not released their salaries for over six months as the employees under the Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package have not resumed work since they began their protest in the wake of ‘targeted killings’ in Kashmir last year.
“There is the issue of the salaries of Kashmiri Pandits who have been protesting for the past six months. The government says first join, then you will get the salary,” said one of the members of the delegation to Gandhi, in a video released by the Congress.
He added, “I live in Srinagar, They may target me tomorrow. I have got no security,” To which Gandhi replied that instead (of asking people to resume work) “right conditions to join should be created” in the Valley.
Nearly 4,000 Kashmiri migrant pandits are working in different departments in the valley after their selection under the prime minister’s employment package announced in 2008. The package has two major components — 6,000 jobs for the youth from the community and building as many accommodation units for the recruited employees.
However, many of the employees fled to Jammu after one of their colleagues, Rahul Bhat, was shot dead by militants inside his office in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on May 12 last year in what was described as a case an of a targeted killing. They are on a strike demanding their relocation out of the Valley.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra received a warm welcome as it entered Jammu’s south from the adjoining Samba district on Monday afternoon with authorities further strengthening the security cordon around him.
The yatra started from Samba’s Vijaypur along the Jammu-Pathankot highway at around 7 am Monday and was received warmly by a massive crowd as it crossed Bari Brahmana in Jammuj’s Parmandal.
Earlier, officials said all necessary arrangements were in place for the yatra, which started from Kanyakumari Son on September 7 and is scheduled to culminate in Srinagar, Kashmir capital, on January 30.
Gandhi is scheduled to host the Tricolor (Indian Flag) at his party headquarters at a mega rally to mark the culmination of the march.
Amid chants of ‘Nafrat Chhodo, Bharat Jodo (essentially denouncing hatred to unite India)’, the foot march witnessed a huge number of policemen joining the security ring around the Gandhi family scion at Kaluchak as it moved ahead towards its Satwari Chowk.
Gandhi will address a gathering at the Satwari Chowk before moving to Sidhra for the night halt.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal, AICC communication incharge Jairam Ramesh, J&K Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani, his predecessor G A Mir, working president Raman Bhalla and former minister Tariq Hamid Karra joined the yatra on its 129th day.
Dressed in a cream-colored traditional Kashmir Pheran, actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar also joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as it resumed from the garrison town of Nagrota on Tuesday morning.