Jammu: A senior AAP leader on Wednesday condemned Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s remarks about stopping the salaries of Kashmiri Pandit employees demanding a transfer, saying the administration was forcing them to become “sitting ducks” for terrorists by pushing them to rejoin their duties in the Valley.
Earlier in the day, Sinha asserted that all necessary measures had been taken to ensure the safety of minority community employees, including Kashmiri Pandits, in the Valley and sent out a “loud and clear” message to those demanding a transfer — no salary for sitting at home.
“We have cleared their (protesting employees’) salaries till August 31 but it cannot be done that they will be paid their salaries by sitting at their homes. This is a loud and clear message to them and they should listen and understand it,” he said.
Reacting to Sinha’s comments, MK Yogi, prabhari of the AAP’s Kashmiri Displaced People Wing, said, “We condemn the statement of the Lt Governor. It is very unfortunate.”
He said terrorists, particularly the The Resistance Front, had issued three hit-lists against the displaced Kashmiri Pandit employees. On the other side, the administration is stopping their salaries to force them to return to Kashmir and become sitting ducks for terrorists’ target practice in the absence of security.
Yogi was referring to a blog linked to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, that has released separate lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package and threatened to turn their transit colonies into “graveyards”.
Expressing shock at the statement, Yogi appealed to Sinha to patiently understand the employees’ position.
The AAP leader said it was the government’s duty to ensure their safety in such a vulnerable place where nobody knew what would happen when and where.
He said the Lt Governor must understand the gravity of the situation of all protesting employees — both Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package and reserved category employees (Dogras of Jammu).
“…(The administration) needs to take steps on humanitarian grounds in their case, release their salaries and attach them in the Jammu region till normality returns in the Valley as they cannot be made scapegoats for terrorists,” Yogi added.
He also appealed to all socio-political leaders of the community and others to come forward and support the cause of the protesting employees for natural justice and equity.
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