<p>Migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees on Wednesday intensified their months-long protest demanding a transfer from the Valley following Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's remarks about stopping their salaries.</p>.<p>The protesters also said it was best for the government to sack them as they would not rejoin their services in the Valley in the absence of proper security after a Lashkar-e-Taiba affiliate published hit-lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees.</p>.<p>The migrant Kashmiri Pandit and Jammu-based reserved category employees left the Valley in May following the targeted killings of two colleagues. They are seeking relocation outside Kashmir.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Sinha asserted that all necessary measures had been taken to ensure the safety of minority community employees, including Kashmiri Pandits, in the Valley and sent out a "loud and clear" message to those demanding a transfer -- no salary for sitting at home.</p>.<p>"We have cleared their (protesting employees') salaries till August 31 but it cannot be done that they will be paid their salaries by sitting at their homes. This is a loud and clear message to them and they should listen and understand it," Sinha told reporters.</p>.<p>In response, the Kashmiri Pandit employees, employed under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package in the Valley, held demonstrations in front of the Press Club here.</p>.<p>Carrying placards depicting the administration's "step-motherly treatment" towards them, they also raised slogans in support of their relocation.</p>.<p>"It is an unfortunate statement. It is better for the government to sack us all. We will not go to the Valley to join services. Our lives are more important than jobs," a protester told reporters here.</p>.<p>He said that if the government wanted to stop their salaries, it was free to do so.</p>.<p>"Our salaries should be used for nation building," he added.</p>.<p>The protester also said Kashmiri Pandit employees could not be made symbols of peace and normality in Kashmir.</p>.<p>"We are in this position because of the situation created by the government. We had been living in the Valley for the past decade. But now, hit-lists are being issued to kill us. Do you want me to go to Kashmir and get killed?" he asked.</p>.<p>He was referring to a blog linked to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, that has released separate lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package and threatened to turn their transit colonies into "graveyards".</p>.<p>"Who will protect us? The administration has failed to protect us from selective killings," another protester said.</p>.<p>"...We want the government to assure us that no Kashmiri Pandit will be targeted by terrorists in the future. If they are not in a position to give such an assurance, please accept our demand and relocate us outside Kashmir," he added.</p>
<p>Migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees on Wednesday intensified their months-long protest demanding a transfer from the Valley following Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's remarks about stopping their salaries.</p>.<p>The protesters also said it was best for the government to sack them as they would not rejoin their services in the Valley in the absence of proper security after a Lashkar-e-Taiba affiliate published hit-lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees.</p>.<p>The migrant Kashmiri Pandit and Jammu-based reserved category employees left the Valley in May following the targeted killings of two colleagues. They are seeking relocation outside Kashmir.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Sinha asserted that all necessary measures had been taken to ensure the safety of minority community employees, including Kashmiri Pandits, in the Valley and sent out a "loud and clear" message to those demanding a transfer -- no salary for sitting at home.</p>.<p>"We have cleared their (protesting employees') salaries till August 31 but it cannot be done that they will be paid their salaries by sitting at their homes. This is a loud and clear message to them and they should listen and understand it," Sinha told reporters.</p>.<p>In response, the Kashmiri Pandit employees, employed under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package in the Valley, held demonstrations in front of the Press Club here.</p>.<p>Carrying placards depicting the administration's "step-motherly treatment" towards them, they also raised slogans in support of their relocation.</p>.<p>"It is an unfortunate statement. It is better for the government to sack us all. We will not go to the Valley to join services. Our lives are more important than jobs," a protester told reporters here.</p>.<p>He said that if the government wanted to stop their salaries, it was free to do so.</p>.<p>"Our salaries should be used for nation building," he added.</p>.<p>The protester also said Kashmiri Pandit employees could not be made symbols of peace and normality in Kashmir.</p>.<p>"We are in this position because of the situation created by the government. We had been living in the Valley for the past decade. But now, hit-lists are being issued to kill us. Do you want me to go to Kashmir and get killed?" he asked.</p>.<p>He was referring to a blog linked to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, that has released separate lists of Kashmiri Pandit employees recruited under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package and threatened to turn their transit colonies into "graveyards".</p>.<p>"Who will protect us? The administration has failed to protect us from selective killings," another protester said.</p>.<p>"...We want the government to assure us that no Kashmiri Pandit will be targeted by terrorists in the future. If they are not in a position to give such an assurance, please accept our demand and relocate us outside Kashmir," he added.</p>