Kashmir will be 100% Hindu-free if govt doesn't act now: Farooq Abdullah on exodus

With an increase in the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the union territory, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president and former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, said that Kashmir will become 100 per cent Hindu-less if the government fails to do anything soon.

Abdullah said, "If nothing is done immediately in the matter, then in the coming days, Kashmir may become 100% Hindu-less. 1990-like conditions have returned for Kashmiri Pandits. I am not responsible for the murders. I have not made any pro-terrorism statements.”

Abdullah has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in this matter. He said, “PM Modi and Amit Shah should look into this matter immediately. At the same time, an all-party meeting should be called on the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and exodus of minority Hindus.”

As many as 10 Kashmiri Pandit families have fled from south Kashmir's Shopian after the recent targeted killing of Puran Krishan Bhat in the Chowdarygund area.

Kashmir has been witnessing a series of targeted killings since October last year. Many of the victims have been migrant workers or Kashmiri Pandits.

However, the Shopian administration has refuted reports that Kashmiri Pandit families are fleeing the valley following the latest targeted killing in the valley. The Information and Public Relations department of Shopian claimed that the news about the leaving of the "Kashmiri non-migrant Hindu population" was "baseless".

But, Ashwani Kumar Bhat, whose brother Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists, told reporters in Jammu that he has migrated and will never return to the valley, a PTI report said.