New Delhi: The security of Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting on Friday chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who took stock of the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The meeting was convened in the wake of eight targeted killings by terror groups especially Lashker-e-Taiba in the Kashmir Valley whose victims included non-Muslims, security personnel, an artist and local civilians.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha were among those who attended the meeting.
The home minister reviewed the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with special focus on protection of Kashmiri Pandits living in the valley, a ministry official said.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday made it clear the employees would not be moved out of the Valley but transferred to safer locations.
Officials argued that the Jammu and Kashmir administration cannot be a party to any "ethnic-cleansing" scripted from across the border by agreeing to the demand of Kashmiri Pandit employees to be shifted out of the Valley.
Scores of Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists on May 12 in the Chadoora area of Budgam district in central Kashmir.
Bhat's killing sparked demonstration by around 6,000 employees at various places who demanded their relocation outside the Valley.
Officials also asserted the killing of soft targets by terror groups won't deter them from holding the annual Amarnath Yatra. Over two lakh pilgrims have already registered themselves for the annual pilgrimage, they said.
The terror groups working at the behest of "countries fomenting terrorism" are worried by the return of normalcy in the Valley and therefore, soft targets are picked up to instil fear among the masses and create chaos, they said.
The J&K administration is not going to be bogged down by this, they said, exuding confidence that the security forces would put an end to these targeted killings like they did in October 2021 when terrorists carried out a spate of targeted attacks including on prominent chemist M L Bindroo and a Sikh teacher. The officials said the Amarnath Yatra was a symbol of Kashmir's composite culture and will go on despite some threat perception which will be handled.
They said these targeted killings show that terror groups' ability to strike at protected targets has shrunk, and therefore soft targets are being approached.
They said there was an evil design behind these targeted killings and cautioned that the attacks were not to create a division between Hindus and Muslims but to establish one "nizam" in the Valley.
For this they can kill anyone who doesn't follow their line, they said, pointing out that Muslims have also been killed by these groups.
The officials, while talking about prospects of holding elections in the union territory, said this was a decision that would be taken by the Election Commission only.
The high-level meeting chaired by Shah was the second such exercise in less than a fortnight.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Director of Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force Kuldiep Singh, Border Security Force chief Pankaj Singh, and Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh among other key officials took part in the meeting.
Earlier, Shah had an informal meeting with LG Manoj Sinha, Arvind Kumar, Secretary of RAW Samant Goel and DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Dilbagh Singh.