Amit Shah reviews security situation in J&K amid spate of targeted killings

Amid a spate of targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday reviewed the security situation in the union territory and asked officials to ramp up security and local intelligence, ensuring the safety of people and strict action against terrorists.

The government is worried about the growing unease among Kashmiri Pandits and their demand for being transferred out of the valley. Government sources said they would be shifted to safer locations but not out of Kashmir valley, as it would send a wrong message to which the establishment could be part of, sources said.

Jammu and Kashmir officials said that the government cannot be a party to any "ethnic-cleansing" scripted from across the border by agreeing to the demand of Kashmiri Pandit employees to be shifted out of the Valley, PTI reported.

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However, there was no official word on whether this issue came up at the meeting attended by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director Arvind Kumar, JK Director General of Police Dilbag Singh and BSF and CRPF Directors General Kuldeep Singh and Pankaj Singh among others.

Sources said the annual Amarnath Yatra would go ahead as per schedule from June 30 to August 11, as the establishment took a view that they cannot play into the hands of the terrorists by deferring it.

At the meeting, sources said, Shah was categorical in taking strong action against terrorists while he asked security agencies to ramp up security in areas that are prone to terror attacks. There is a need to instil confidence in locals and immediate steps should be taken in this regard, sources quoted Shah as saying.

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He also emphasised the need for stepping up local intelligence so as to ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

The meeting came as terrorists continued to carry out targeted killings in Kashmir, which included non-Muslims, security personnel and local civilians. On Thursday, a bank employee and a brick kiln labourer were killed while another labourer was injured in separate incidents. A woman teacher was shot dead by terrorists at a school in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Tuesday.

Ahead of the meeting, Congress demanded that the Narendra Modi government should take immediate steps to end the migration of Kashmiri Pandits and outsiders from Kashmir while emphasising the need for engaging with stakeholders to restore normalcy.

Also Read: Bank manager killed in Kashmir got married in February, wanted to go back to Rajasthan

Senior Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said the government should spell out its policy for restoring normalcy in the union territory.

"Normalcy and peace cannot be brought there through propaganda. A lot of statesmanship is required to address the Kashmir issue, which is currently lacking...People are being killed in offices and even government offices are not secure. Please move them (Pandits and outsiders) immediately to secure places and put security around them," he told reporters.

AAP announced that it will hold a protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar in protest against the Centre's "failure and incompetence" in providing safety to Kashmiri Pandits on Sunday.

Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to provide adequate security to Hindus and migrants in the Kashmir Valley. She also sought a probe into the killings, compensation to the families of the victims and government jobs for one family member if the victim was the sole breadwinner.