New Delhi, (Samajweekly) A Delhi-based lawyer has filed a letter petition in the Supreme Court urging the Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana, to take cognizance of the recent targeted killing of Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir.
The lawyer, Vineet Jindal, said that he had recently come across news from different news publications, social media and electronic media regarding targeted killing of Hindu and Sikh minorities in Kashmir.
He said in five days, seven civilians have been killed in Kashmir, including those from the Sikh and Hindu communities.
“The targeted killings of pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo, Supinder Kaur, the Sikh principal of Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Sangam Eidgah area of Srinagar, and Deepak Chand, a Hindu teacher in the same school, have evoked a feeling of agony, fear and insecurity among the minorities residing in Kashmir,” said the petition.
The plea said the targeted killing of the members of minority communities has reminded people of the gory incident of massacre of 36 Sikhs in Chattisinghpora village in Anantnag in 2000.
“Many government employees who returned to the Valley after being given jobs under the Prime Minister’s special employment scheme for Kashmiri migrants have quietly left their accommodations with the fear of losing their lives and for the sake of their families’ well-being,” added the plea.
The plea urged the top court to give directions to the Centre to provide adequate security to Hindu and Sikh minorities in Kashmir at the earliest.
Also, it urged the CJI to establish a special delegated unit to structure and administer a system to ensure the safety and security of the minority groups in Kashmir.
The plea urged the top court to issue direction to the National Security Agency to investigate the recent killing of Hindu and Sikh minorities, and also grant Rs 1 crore as compensation to the families of the victims along with a government job to one of the family members.
Citing Article 21, which says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law, the plea said the acts of killing against these minority groups call for creating and adopting a comprehensive mechanism to secure the lives of these sections of people.
