Braving scorching heat large number of youth were gathered at the Bantalab area in the outskirt of Jammu city on Saturday to lodge their protest against the gruesome killing of Satish Kumar Singh, who was killed by terrorists in South Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday.
These youth belong to the Kashmiri Rajputs, who were displaced from Kashmir Valley after the eruption of terrorism in the early 1990s and living in different areas of Jammu city as migrants.
While some Kashmiri Rajput families had left their homes and hearths in early 1990, many others are still living in Valley, especially in the Shopian and Kulgam districts of South Kashmir.
The killing of driver Satish Kumar Singh has created fear among these displaced Rajput families because their relatives are still living in Kashmir Valley.
"There is fear among displaced Kashmiri Rajput families living in different parts of Jammu", Surinder Singh Gilli, chairman of Yuva Rajput Sabha told the International Business Times. He said that the recent killing of Satish Kumar Singh has shattered the faith of those living in the Valley despite the mass exodus in early 1990.
Kashmiri Rajputs are being ignored by successive governments
Along with Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, and nationalist Muslims, over 600 Rajput families were also displaced from the Valley in 1990 but their plights were never heard by the successive state governments. These families have been living in the Bantalab, Paloura, and Raipur areas on the outskirt of Jammu city since 1990. They have been facing step-motherly treatment by those at the helm of the affairs.
The killing of Satish Singh has exposed the unending plight of Rajputs of Kashmir Valley, facing systematic neglect and marginalization. Before 1947, Rajputs were Jagirdars in the Valley but now most of the families are struggling to earn their livelihood, thanks to the discriminatory policies of the successive governments in J&K.
When migration started in the early nineties, some Dogra families preferred to stay in the Valley and Satish Kumar Singh's family is one among them.
"No efforts have been made by the authorities to give incentives to Dogra Rajput families living in Kashmir Valley", Gilli regretted and added that the unending woes of Rajput families of Kashmir Valley were increasing with every passing day.
Rajputs of Kashmir
Dogra Rajputs from Raipur, Birpur, Ramnagar, Jandrah, Samba, and other areas of the Jammu region were offered Jagirs by Maharaja Ranjit Singh after annexing Kashmir from the Afghans in 1819. "Since 1819 Dogra Rajputs have been living in different parts of Kashmir Valley", Zorawar Singh Jamwal, journalist-turned-social activist told The International Business Times.
These Rajputs from Jammu also got Jagirs from the founder of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Ghulab Singh who became ruler of the state in 1846.
Since 1819 Rajputs have been living in different areas of Kashmir Valley. After land reforms, Jagirs were snatched from these Rajput families but they are still living in the Valley because they are part and parcel of the society in the Valley.
Terrorists on Wednesday killed a man in the Kulgam district. Satish Kumar Singh, a driver by profession, was shot in Kulgam's Kakran village. He was critically injured and shifted to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries on the way. Officials said he was shot in the head from a point-blank range. He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
Wednesday's attack was the latest in a series of targeted attacks on migrant workers and local minorities that have been sweeping Kashmir over the last seven months.
- This was the sixth targeted attack since April 2 when two non-local labourers were wounded in Pulwama.
- The next day, April 3, a similar militant attack injured two non-locals again in Pulwama.
- The same day, two CRPF personnel were attacked in Srinagar, following which one of them succumbed.
- A pharmacy owner was also shot at in Shopian the same day.
- On April 7, again a non-local labourer, Sonu Sharma, was attacked in the thigh in Yadur village of Pulwama.
