On Wednesday, Kashmiri Pandit employees benefiting from the Prime Minister’s Package staged a silent protest in Srinagar. They are calling for secure government accommodations in light of recent terror threats. Many of these employees are currently residing in rented housing, which they say has heightened their anxiety and insecurity. They have set a deadline of September 30 for the government to provide completed transit units, threatening to initiate an indefinite hunger strike if their demands are not met. This protest reflects growing concerns over safety among the community amid escalating tensions in the region.
Representatives of the employees gathered at Press Colony and said that about 3,500 of their colleagues are still living in rented accommodation across the Valley.
They said many private houses do not have proper security.
The employees also alleged that several transit buildings are complete, but possession has not been handed over to them. We have been given deadline after deadline: first April, then May, June, July, August, and now the administration has given us September-end as the deadline. I don’t understand why, when some of the buildings are already complete, we cannot be given possession of them. Why can’t we be shifted to these buildings immediately? Construction on the remaining buildings can continue alongside. The government has been assuring us that we will be accommodated, but nothing has happened so far. Now, with these fresh threat letters coming in, our concerns have increased. Our demand is very simple: the buildings that are already ready should be opened and we should be shifted there immediately. it will also be easier for the government to provide us with proper security.
Because we have been waiting for accommodation in the transit camps for years, “We have gathered here. He said employees have been waiting since 2010 and questioned why completed buildings have not been opened. We have been here since 2010, it has been 16 years and we still have not been provided safe accommodation. Out of the 39 buildings, 26 are ready for occupation.
They said repeated government assurances and deadlines have failed to resolve the issue. Ashish Razdan, a Kashmiri Pandit employee, said the demand for safe accommodation has continued for years. He said, “Our major demand is something we have been raising with the government for years. The employees said several buildings have received the required clearances, but the handover process remains stalled. They said the government is providing security, but their immediate concern is safe accommodation following a series of threat letters. This has become a huge mental stress for us,” she said.
