Srinagar, Oct 9: Two days after a Sikh lady who was principal of a public school was killed by gunmen here, the Srinagar Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (GPC) on Saturday said that no Sikh employee will attend office till the government assures their safety.
“Despite many inputs and incidents of attacks against the minorities in the past, the government didn’t provide any security to them,” Navtej Singh, General Secretary, GPC, Srinagar, told newsmen here.
“The government,” he said, “has failed to protect the minority community in Jammu and Kashmir.’’
Navtej said that unless the government assures security and protection, none of Sikh employees will attend government duty. “They won’t be attending their offices till they get assurance of their safety,” he said, and demanded that the government should provide security for its employees from the minority community and assure them of their safety.
The Sikh leader said the majority community should come forward and condemn the attack on minorities. “It would have been better if the majority community had participated in yesterday’s protest,” he said.
Pertinently, a sense of insecurity has gripped the minorities, Sikhs and Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir after four members belonging to these two communities were shot dead by militants in three separate incidents in Srinagar during last one week.
On Tuesday famous chemist M.L. Bindroo was shot dead at his shop at Iqbal Park. On the same day a street food vendor from Bihar was shot dead at Lal Bazar area of Srinagar.
On Thursday, Sikh woman who was the principal of a government higher secondary school in Eidgah, and her colleague Deepk Chand were shot dead by the militants inside the school.
Kour lived at Allochi Bagh in Srinagar while Chand hailed from Jammu. The killings sparked a wave of outrage in Kashmir.