Kashmir Minority Killings A Throwback To The Terrifying 90s

It is hardly usual for a medical store to be known across a state as an institution of sorts, its name a byword for trust. Such is the faith reposed in Bindroo Pharmacy바카라�named after its owner, Makhan Lal Bindroo, 65바카라�a household name in Kashmir. 바카라�Bindroo바카라� was the last resort for getting 바카라�genuine medi­cines in the Valley바카라�. In a state where chemists selling medical drugs are widely suspected of selling spurious medicines, Bindroo was above suspicion. The most trusted chemist in the Valley, people would prefer to be in a queue outside his shop for a strip of paracetamol, rather than buying it elsewhere. The circumstances of his demise, therefore, shook many Kashmiris to their core.

The killing of Makhan Lal Bindroo on October 5 is the first fatal militant attack on the Kashmiri Pandit minority in 18 years. A number of Pandits who over the years had returned to the Valley under the prime minister바카라�s rehabilitation package and were working in different government departments, read a dire message in Bindroo바카라�s death. 바카라�Remember, in 1990, killing of prominent Kashmiri Pandits led to their migration from the Valley,바카라� says Sanjay Tickoo, president, Kashmiri Pandit Sangresh Samithi, an organisation that fights for the rights of Pandits based in the Valley. 바카라�You shouldn바카라�t see Bindroo바카라�s death like any other killing,바카라� Tickoo says.

The autumn evening was deepening into darkness at the high-security Iqbal market, where Bindroo바카라�s shop was located. Most shopkeepers had shut shop and returned home; a few polyclinics were open. The crowds around the clinics and pharmacies were beginning to thin out. Then, suddenly, a young man burst into Bindroo Pharmacy, brandished a handgun, and took aim at Bindroo.

바카라�I was terrified,바카라� says a salesman who has been working at the pharmacy for 10 years. 바카라�The gunman took aim, shot him and ran. We all hid behind our desks,바카라� he says. The sound of gunshots created panic; people ran for their lives, taking cover. Bindroo바카라�s murder shocked people, more so as the killing took place in the high-security zone which has both an army camp locally known as 바카라�militia바카라� and the headquarters of the Special Operation Group, J&K Police바카라�s counter insurgency force. Social media were full of messages of sympathy and solidarity with the well-loved Bindroo.

At Bindroo바카라�s home in Indira Nagar, his son, Dr Sidharth Bindroo, himself a well-known end­ocrinologist, says his father was a principled man. 바카라�Everyone said he was his friend. He was a friend of all,바카라� he says pensively. 바카라�I was working outside. It was he who encouraged me to work in the Valley and help people,바카라� he adds. Dr Bindroo says his father had no idea of any threat. 바카라�Had he known, he would have still opened his shop바카라�the way he was doing for the past 40 years. He was a brave man.바카라�

Sanjay Tickoo, a close observer of Kashmiri politics and militancy, says he had wanted to discuss the security of Kashmiri Pandits with the Lt. Governor for the past six months. The reason was his sense of something being amiss in the near-complete silence of common Kashmiris after the abrogation of Article 370.

바카라�Before August 5, 2019, even a small incident, especially involving security forces, would lead to protests. After the abrogation, there was deafening silence바카라�it frightened me for the first time in 30 years,바카라� he says. Tickoo was invited for an appointment with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha a day after Bindroo fell to militants바카라� bullets, but was unable to keep it.

Bindroo바카라�s killing signalled a blood-spattered spell바카라�within an hour, a non-local Hindu paanipuri seller from Bihar was shot dead in the Lal Bazar area in the city, followed by the killing of taxi driver, Mohammad Shafi Lone, in northern Kashmir바카라�s Bandipora district.

A day later, when militants shot dead 50-year-old Sikh school principal Supinder Kaur, a mot­her of two, and Kashmiri Pandit teacher Dee­­pak Chand, shock after Bindroo바카라�s demise turned into disbelief. At the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Srinagar바카라�s Eidgah, the gunmen first isolated the teachers after checking their identity cards, then killed them in cold blood. The spate of targeted killings brought back focus on the mass migration of Kashmiri Hindus in the early 바카라�90s.

바카라�After the revocation of Article 370, I felt there will be a backlash, as there is widespread anger within the majority community. Unfortunately, some of our community members started rejoicing over the revocation, saying we have defeated Kashmiri Muslims who had thrown us out of Kashmir. These things also didn바카라�t go down well,바카라� Tickoo says.

Ahead of the minority killings, there was a different narrative at play in the Valley. In September, the government employed artists to paint roadside walls depicting the scenic beauty of Kashmir to show 바카라�how normal Kashmir Valley is바카라�. Since September 12, each day saw Union ministers visit the Valley to ina­ugurate different projects in J&K under the prime minister바카라�s outreach programme. Every day, Lt.Governor Sinha was inaugurating a project or addressing a gathering.

The Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) took a hard line on all this government activity, calling it an answer to a 바카라�long-standing demand of the Hindutva elements, with an eye on altering the demographic composition of the only Muslim-majority state in the country, rather like Israel is doing on Palestinian lands바카라�.

However, beneath the steady inflow of tourists and the air of normalcy, killings of civilians went on unabated. In August, militants entered the rented accommodation of BJP leader Ghulam Rasool Dar, sarpanch of Redwani Kulgam at Lal Chowk, Anantnag, and shot dead Dar and his wife Jawahira. In the same month, they killed BJP constituency president Kulgam Javed Ahmad Dar and Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Lone at his home.

In June, a bodybuilder, Mehran Ali Sheikh, was shot dead by gunmen outside his home at Bulbul Lanker Nawakadal in Srinagar. Police initially blamed militants for the killing, but later termed it as 바카라�gang rivalry바카라�. On October 2, gunmen shot dead two people, Majid Gojri and Muhammad Shafi Dar, in a span of two hours in Srinagar바카라�s Karan Nagar and Batamaloo areas.

The killing of members from the minority community, however, changed everything. In the panic that seized Pandits and other Hindus and Sikhs, Kashmir was confronted with an image of what it was 30 years back바카라�an insecure place for common people.

Several migrant labourers and frightened government employees from the Pandit community fled Kashmir, as The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed the responsibility for the killings, saying Bindroo was furthering Hindu right-wing agenda. The slain teachers, it said, were killed for threatening students with punishment if they didn바카라�t participate in the Independence Day function on August 15, where the Tricolor was hoisted.

The police issued a statement saying that of 28 civilians who have been killed this year, seven are from minority communities, while the rest were Muslims. Needless to say, such facts were cold comfort for Kashmiri Pandits. They say TRF is a local front for the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba militant outfit and was formed after the abrogation of Article 370.

Heightened action from security forces soon followed the murders. On October 6, the CRPF shot and killed a civilian, Pervez Ahmad, in Anantnag in South Kashmir when a vehicle he was traveling in allegedly didn바카라�t stop at a checkpost. Former CM Mehbooba Mufti says the CRPF used disproportionate force. The police and security forces have also detained over 700 people, mostly young boys, in a sweeping crackdown following the attacks on minority members. 바카라�These acts are committed by newly recruited terrorists or those who are about to join a militant outfit,바카라� a police statement states.

바카라�While it is true that a majority of civilian deaths in Kashmir have been that of Muslims, it does not absolve us of our responsibility to do everything in our power to help those who belong to religious minorities feel secure,바카라� PAGD spokesman M.Y. Tarigami says, adding that 바카라�the onus to create a conducive security environment lies with the government of India바카라�. However, there is a trust deficit between the government and several PAGD constituents.

Even though an uneasy peace바카라�in terms of mass civilian unrest바카라�has held in Kashmir, the running battle between militants and security forces never really died down. Deaths바카라�of militants, security personnel, and civilians killed by militants바카라�have occurred at a steady trickle. The killing of members of the minority communities, and the fear it has triggered, is a hideous new element in the whole mix.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Fear & Disquiet IN THE VALLEY")

By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar