Binoo Joshi
JK News Today commentary


The killing of Ajay Pandita , sarpanch of Larkipora panchayat in south Kashmir’s district on Monday was not a typical militant action against civilians, it was much more gruesome act to instil fear in an already fear-stricken minority community that was being nudged to return to land of its ancestors. It was to kill this narrative as their return had gained currency in the recent times specially after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.

Kashmiri Pandits has fled the Valley en-masse in 1990s . The minuscule minority community could not find any defence against the bloodletting guns held by Islamist militants prompted to act against all those who stood in Kashmir as the last post of India. It is after many years since the massacre of Nadimarg in Kulgam district in March 2003 when the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit has made it to the headlines.
Militants chose their target with deadly intentions : to kill a minority member , associated with BJP, village head and a symbol of the political empowerment of his community that had big plans to return and resettle in the Valley. The militants have conveyed so many dark messages for the community and the government with one killing.
That the community having big plans to return to the Valley will be scared is a gross understatement. Through Pandita’s killing KPs will have a rethink on their plans to return. That is a big blow to the government that had cited KP’s jubilation over abrogation of Article 370 as an endorsement of its policies. KPs had started narrating a tale that things would return to the fairy tale times in Kashmir. In fact , they were more vocal than others and they had become the cheer leaders of the revival of nationalism in the country and that the whole concept of nationalism and its aggressive narration was their approach, which certainly was not to the liking of those who wanted to continue with the brutal killings spotlighting religious differences between the communities in a clear attempt to axe the bonhomie that could have emerged in the due course of time.