Even as locals protests over Kashmiri Pandit’s killing in Pulwama, fear grips among those staying back since 1990s

Sanjay Sharma, 42, a bank guard by profession, was shot dead near his native village in Pulwama by militants.

Local Muslims held protests and in hundreds joined the family of slain Kashmir Pandit Sanjay Sharma for the last rites in Pulwama’s Achan area on February 27, but the targeted killing has further shattered the confidence of the miniscule population of those Pandits who preferred to stay back despite raging militancy in the 1990s in the Kashmir valley.

Putting her arms repeatedly around the three minor orphans — Sakshi, Diksha and Aryan — Sharma’s wife, in her late 30s, is still grappling to come to terms with what unfolded before her eyes on Sunday morning in a village, which housed her humble residence for many decades now.

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“I do not want to live here anymore. My husband was shot four times in front of me on the road (in Achan). No one came forward. I supported him, with blood dripping, and reached the nearby hospital only to bring his body home. These three minor orphans are testimony to the tragedy these attackers left behind. They snatched my husband at the prime age for none of his fault. What will happen to the kids now?” deceased Sharma’s wife said.

Sanjay Sharma, 42, a bank guard by profession, was shot dead near his native village in Pulwama on Sunday morning by militants. He became the second such victim in the area in the past 30 years. The last killing of a Kashmiri Pandit, Janki Nath, took place at the hands of militants in 1990, at the peak of militancy. However, the family of Sharma took a bold decision to stay back, unlike hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit families who left for other parts of the country. 

Despite raging militancy in Pulwama between 2010 and 2018, Kashmiri Pandits never felt scared. However, the dynamic is fast changing for the community after the revocation of special provisions of Article 370 in 2019. According to official figures, 29 civilians were killed in 2022, which included three local Pandits, three Hindus and eight non-local labourers. The killing of Pandits resulted in mass migration of more than 5,500 Pandit employees from the Kashmir Valley.

With just four Pandit families left behind in Pulwama’s Achan, scores of local Muslims, mostly neighbours, on Monday arranged for the last rites of Sharma.  “On the recent ‘Herath’ festival [Maha Shivrarti], he [Sharma] shared wet walnuts with his Muslim neighbours, as was the tradition among Kashmiri Pandits. They are like our brothers,” Maqbool Ahmad, a local, said.