JAMMU: Kashmiri Pandit government employees, who had been protesting for 310 days demanding relocation outside the valley, suspended their strike on Saturday, saying they were “surrendering” as the authorities had stopped their salary.
“We have unanimously decided to suspend the ongoing agitation and are surrendering before the government. We have projected our demand for relocation, but the government neither accepted nor rejected it,” Ruban Saproo, member of All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir, told reporters.
Saproo said since J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha had time and again assured a secure atmosphere to them in the Kashmir Valley, the core committee of the organisation had decided to suspend the agitation and wait for the government’s response.
Another protestor said they had no option but to surrender before the government after it stopped their salaries. “We do not feel safe in Kashmir, yet we have to go as nobody is paying heed to our voices,” he added.
The protest venue outside the relief commissioner’s office in Jammu wore a deserted look as the Kashmiri Pandits working in various government departments, including PM Package employees, who had been demonstrating since May last, withdrew.
The marathon strike had started after the targeted killings of Rahul Bhat in a government office in Budgam on May 12 and Rajini Bala, a school teacher, in Kulgam on May 31.
After a series of target killings, many employees had moved to the Jammu division.