'Guarantee Our Safety': Non-Local Bank Employees in J&K Appeal to the Centre

There are around 300 bank employees from Sri Ganganagar & Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan working in Kashmir.

"The government needs to assure us that our life's value is much more than the Rs 1 Lakh cheque that would be given to our family along with our dead body," said Om Prakash, one of the non-local employees working in a bank in the Kashmir Valley, after attending Vijay Kumar's funeral in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan.

Photo: Screengrab

"The government needs to assure us that our life's value is much more than the Rs 1 lakh cheque that would be given to our family along with our dead body," said Om Prakash, one of the non-local employees working in a bank in the Kashmir Valley, after attending Vijay Kumar's funeral in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan.

Vijay was a bank manager at the Kulgam branch of Elaqahi Dehati Bank, who was shot by suspected terrorists in the Arreh area of the district on Thursday, 2 June.

Om Prakash is just one among the near 300 bank employees from Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts working in Kashmir who are worried about their safety after the recent killing of Vijay.

The Kashmir Valley is in the midst of another surge of militant attacks as ten people, including civilians – locals and non-locals – and security personnel, have been killed since 7 May.

'What Will Our Parents Do With a Cheque of 1 Lakh If We Die': Om Prakash

Om Prakash appealed to the Centre to provide adequate security for all bank employees before any of them become the "next target".

"There are around 300-350 non-local bank employees working in Kashmir. My appeal to the central government is that they should do something about the security of all such people. There is not much security available in banks. Our jobs are there. We can't leave our jobs and return to our respective states. Some people are from Himachal Pradesh, some from Haryana, and some from Rajasthan. We have no option but to return. What if I am the next target when I return to the Valley? Or if it is somebody else? What steps is the government taking to save the lives of people?" he said after attending Vijay Kumar's funeral.

Om Prakash asked what his parents would do with the cheque of Rs 1 lakh if he becomes the next victim?

"The government needs to assure us that our life's value is much more than the Rs 1 lakh cheque that would be given to our family along with our dead body. What will our parents do with that money?"

Om Prakash, who has been working in the Valley for the last four to five years, said that atmosphere in Kashmir was "full of panic" now.

"Our job is there, and we have been working for the last four-five years. We were leading our life smoothly when the situation was calm. Now, the atmosphere there is full of panic, and the whole system has been disturbed. We appeal to the government to work towards improving things and make arrangements for our security so that we feel safe."

Dimple Poonia, another bank employee working in the terror-stricken Valley, said more such incidents would take place if the government did not provide them with adequate security.

Photo: Screengrab

'Something or the Other Keeps Happening Daily': Dimple Poonia, a Bank Employee

Dimple Poonia, another bank employee working in the terror-stricken Valley, said more such incidents would take place if the government did not provide them with adequate security.

"The incident happened due to a lack of security. More such incidents will take place if we are not provided adequate security. We request the central government to make proper security arrangements for us so that more people don't lose their lives. We demand that the Centre deploys CRPF, CISF, and state police for our security so that no one goes through this again. Today, one lamp has been extinguished. Another lamp is ready to be extinguished tomorrow. Such is the situation. Something or the other keeps happening daily," he said.

Amit Shah Holds High-Level Meet

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 3 June, held a high-level meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and other key officials, to discuss the situation in the Valley.

The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) has sought the intervention of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court to direct the government to relocate all religious minorities living in Kashmir to a safer place outside the Valley.

The president of a Hindu Kashmiri Pandit colony in northern Kashmir's Baramulla, Avtar Krishan Bhat, had told Reuters on Wednesday that around half of the 300 families living in the area had fled since Tuesday.

Scores of the Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging continuous protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat.