The central government today told parliament that no Kashmiri Pandit has migrated from the Valley since August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was turned into an Union Territory. This information comes in the wake of a series of attacks on people from the Hindu and Sikh minority communities in the Union Territory in the last few months.
Responding to a question by Congress leader Digvijay Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told Rajya Sabha: “As per record, no Kashmiri Pandit reportedly migrated from Kashmir during said period (August 5, 2019 to July 9, 2022).”
The minister further informed that “five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 others belonging to Hindu or Sikh communities were among the civilians killed during the period,” but added that overall data suggests there’s a decline in terror attacks.
Even as people from minority community, especially Kashmiri Pandits, face targeted killings in valley, leading to protests over their safety, the government in parliament today said there’s been “substantial decline in attacks, from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021”.
“The Government has a policy of zero tolerance (against terrorism), and the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Rai said.
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