SRINAGAR, INDIA — In yet another attack, assailants on Tuesday killed a local Hindu man and injured his brother in a shooting that police blamed on militants fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.

Police said militants fired at two brothers belonging to the minority community of Kashmiri Hindus inside an apple orchard in the southern Shopian district.

Soon after the attack, a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian Army, and paramilitary forces cordoned off the area to trace the terrorists behind the attack.

Sharing more details of the brutal incident, journalist Aditya Raj Kaul quoted a Jammu and Kashmir police officer as telling him that there was a “J&K Police Guard at their residence but as soon as the minority Hindu brothers went to their Apple Orchard, the Islamist terrorists attacked them. One was killed on the spot, the other injured. Forces rushed to the spot.”

Reinforcement of soldiers and police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to find the attackers.

Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and numerous other political figures denounced yet another targeted attack on Kashmiri Hindus. “Pained beyond words on the despicable terror attack on civilians in Shopian. My thoughts are with the family of Sunil Kumar. Praying for a speedy recovery of the injured. The attack deserves the strongest condemnation from everyone. Terrorists responsible for barbaric acts will not be spared,” tweeted Sinha.

Kashmir has witnessed a spate of targeted killings in recent months. Several Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, have been killed. Police say the killings — including that of Muslim village councilors, police officers, and civilians — have been carried out by anti-India rebels.

Unrest in Kashmir is at its peak and anger among Hindus seems to have no boundary towards the Government which seems to be completely unable to control these cowardly attacks. What is the cost of one more life that is gone, just like that, for being a Hindu in his own country?

Bhatta @sarswaticbhatta uploaded a video of a brother who was shot, "Brother of #KashmiriPandits who was shot! Confronting #administration and getting suppressed by jkp #onlysolutionrelocation No more scape-goats Right to live." 

Dr.Sushma Shallakaul @shallakaul uploaded a leaflet by KFF and wrote, "Kashmiri Pandits attacked again in Kashmir at Chotigam, Shopian. Two brothers who never left Kashmir were shot at and Sunil Kumar died on the spot while Pintu Ji was injured & is undergoing treatment. Their only fault is that they were born Hindus."

The killings this year come as Indian troops have continued their counterinsurgency operations across the region amid a clampdown on dissent and press freedom, which critics have likened to a militaristic policy.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.

Rebels in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels, and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Kashmir’s minority Hindus, who are locally known as Pandits, have long fretted over their place in the disputed region. Most of an estimated 200,000 of them fled Kashmir in the 1990s when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began. About 4,000 of them returned after 2010 as part of a government resettlement plan that provided them with jobs and housing.

The recent killings, however, have heightened their fears.

In May, after the killing of a Hindu revenue clerk, hundreds of them organized the first simultaneous street protests in the region and demanded the government relocate them to safer areas.

References:

voanews.com