Targeted killings going on in Jammu and Kashmir, says Madhu Purnima Kishwar
BENGALURU: Until today, no political party has said that Kashmiri Pandits are living in exile, nobody has addressed that they are scared to go back to their homelands, said author and activist Madhu Purnima Kishwar. “Today, targeted killings are happening in all parts of the country and we need to join the dots, these are all examples of demographic invasion and terrorism spreading everywhere, starting from Jammu,” the activist said, speaking at an event in the city on Sunday.
Condemning the killings in Jammu province, she recalled incidents of migrant labourers from Bihar being killed, and not allowing people from other states in Jammu. She called it a “big security risk” and an agenda-driven tactic to capture the entire Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) area. Taking part in the talk on demographic invasion in the Jammu province named ‘Is Jammu going the Kashmir way?’ organised by Kashmiri Hindu Cultural Welfare Trust in Bengaluru, she said Hindu families don’t want to keep their children in J&K as they see no future there.
She alleged that most of the funds given for development are going to Kashmir, while Jammu gets only a small fraction, despite the abolition of Article 370. “The mainstream media is portraying that peace has prevailed in Jammu and Kashmir in the last year, and the valley is back to normal but nobody is talking about how Hindu colonies are being held hostage, and they are forced to leave their homes under threat,” said Kishwar. She added that different strategies are being adopted to change the narrative.
Former additional chief secretary to the Government of Karnataka, Madabhushi Madan Gopal said, “Our democracy is being threatened by demographic imbalance. There is a huge cultural threat because of demographic dividend in different pockets of India.” He added that “incremental interpretations (identifying small acts of violence) will not stop terrorism.” We need to understand narratives and the larger agenda, be vigilant about them and change them. “We cannot let India go the Kashmir way,” Gopal stated.