<p>A spate of civilian deaths last week in Kashmir has again led to widespread unease, particularly among the region’s minority communities.</p>.<p>While the government has beefed up security of the minority communities in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley, those living in villages are scared following the recent killings by militants of The Resistance Force (TRF) who made them safe targets to show their presence after a lull.</p>.<p>There are over 800 Kashmiri Pandit families comprising around 3,400 people, who had chosen to stay back in Kashmir in 1990. There are also nearly 4,000 Kashmiri Pandits who are employed in different government departments here and were recruited under the Prime Minister’s package for ensuring their return to Kashmir. These Pandits are putting up at the transit accommodations like the one at Sheikpura.</p>.<p>Besides, hundreds of Sikh families are putting up in various places in trouble-torn Valley who didn’t migrate in 1990.</p>.<p>“A simple knock at the door of our house in the evening increases the heartbeats of my family as they fear the worst. We pass sleepless nights under such situations but the government is a mute spectator,” a Kashmiri Pandit, living in northern Baramulla district, said on the condition of anonymity.</p>.<p>He said the family was not so scared even in the early 1990s when the militancy was at its peak. “It is only because of the support of our Muslim neighbors that we stayed here. Even today, they have assured us of all help, but militants don't even spare Muslims when they have to kill somebody,” he lamented.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/three-let/trf-militants-killed-in-kashmir-s-shopian-1039850.html" target="_blank">Three LeT/TRF militants killed in Kashmir’s Shopian</a></strong></p>.<p>Sanjay Tickoo, president Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), an organisation that represents the Pandits living in the Valley, accuses his community members outside Kashmir of “giving irrational statements and creating problems for the minorities living here”.</p>.<p>“They don’t understand how problematic these statements can be for their community members in Kashmir who can become safe and easy targets,” he said.</p>.<p>While giving credit to local Muslims and neighbours of Pandits who stood with the community through every thick and thin, Tickoo made an appeal to the imams (priests) to make the announcements from local mosques that the minorities living in Kashmir be given full protection.</p>.<p>However, he said despite assurances, scores of Pandit families have left in recent days and many are planning to migrate.</p>
<p>A spate of civilian deaths last week in Kashmir has again led to widespread unease, particularly among the region’s minority communities.</p>.<p>While the government has beefed up security of the minority communities in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley, those living in villages are scared following the recent killings by militants of The Resistance Force (TRF) who made them safe targets to show their presence after a lull.</p>.<p>There are over 800 Kashmiri Pandit families comprising around 3,400 people, who had chosen to stay back in Kashmir in 1990. There are also nearly 4,000 Kashmiri Pandits who are employed in different government departments here and were recruited under the Prime Minister’s package for ensuring their return to Kashmir. These Pandits are putting up at the transit accommodations like the one at Sheikpura.</p>.<p>Besides, hundreds of Sikh families are putting up in various places in trouble-torn Valley who didn’t migrate in 1990.</p>.<p>“A simple knock at the door of our house in the evening increases the heartbeats of my family as they fear the worst. We pass sleepless nights under such situations but the government is a mute spectator,” a Kashmiri Pandit, living in northern Baramulla district, said on the condition of anonymity.</p>.<p>He said the family was not so scared even in the early 1990s when the militancy was at its peak. “It is only because of the support of our Muslim neighbors that we stayed here. Even today, they have assured us of all help, but militants don't even spare Muslims when they have to kill somebody,” he lamented.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/three-let/trf-militants-killed-in-kashmir-s-shopian-1039850.html" target="_blank">Three LeT/TRF militants killed in Kashmir’s Shopian</a></strong></p>.<p>Sanjay Tickoo, president Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), an organisation that represents the Pandits living in the Valley, accuses his community members outside Kashmir of “giving irrational statements and creating problems for the minorities living here”.</p>.<p>“They don’t understand how problematic these statements can be for their community members in Kashmir who can become safe and easy targets,” he said.</p>.<p>While giving credit to local Muslims and neighbours of Pandits who stood with the community through every thick and thin, Tickoo made an appeal to the imams (priests) to make the announcements from local mosques that the minorities living in Kashmir be given full protection.</p>.<p>However, he said despite assurances, scores of Pandit families have left in recent days and many are planning to migrate.</p>