Highlights
- Govt in Rajya Sabha said that only 6 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in valley by terrorists since 2020
- Out of 6, 1 was killed in 2020, 4 in 2021 and 1 in 2022
- No Kashmiri Pandit has left from the Kashmir Valley during the year 2022, Govt said
The Modi government on Wednesday informed Rajya Sabha that only six Kashmiri Pandits were killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 2020.
The number of Kashmiri Pandits killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, are 1, 4 and 1 respectively, MoS Home Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha.
As per the records, no Kashmiri Pandit has left from the Kashmir Valley during the year 2022. The number of Kashmiri Pandits who are still residing in the valley is 6,514, Nityanand Rai informed.
Last week, the government had informed Rajya Sabha that not a single Kashmiri Pandit left the Kashmir valley ever since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
Nityanand Rai also said that as many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.
No Kashmiri Pandit has reportedly migrated from the valley since August 2019, he said in a written reply to a question.
Rai said 5,502 Kashmiri Pandits have been provided government jobs in different departments of government of Jammu and Kashmir in the valley.
The minister said there has been substantial decline in terrorist attacks in last three years - from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021.
"From August 5, 2019 till July 9, 2022, 128 security force personnel and 118 civilians were killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of 118 civilians killed, 5 were Kashmiri Pandits and 16 belonged to other Hindu and Sikh communities," he said.
Rai said no pilgrim has been killed during this period.
He said the government has a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir. He said jobs to the Kashmiri Pandits were given under the Prime Minister's Development Package.
The Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the state was bifurcated into two Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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