Sanjay Sharma’s death in Pulwama reveals everything is not ‘normal’ in Jammu and Kashmir

By: Yash Gupte

The terrorists fired upon Sanjay Sharma working as a bank guard in his village in the Achan area of the Pulwama district in the morning hours of Sunday.

In the early hours of Tuesday, security personnel encountered two terrorists in a gunfight in the Awantipora area of Jammu & Kashmir. A 40-year-old Kashmiri Pandit bank guard was shot and killed by one of the terrorists, Aqib Mustaq Bhat, a few days ago in Pulwama. The terrorist who killed Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma on Sunday, February 26, 2023 was reportedly neutralised in the Awantipora encounter on Tuesday morning, according to the police. Aijaz Ahmed Bhat has been named as the second terrorist. The terrorists fired upon Sanjay Sharma working as a bank guard in his village, in the Achan area of the south Kashmir district in the morning hours. Two security force personnel were also injured in the gun battle, which began after a cordon and search operation, in the Padgampora area of Pulwama.

In a statement to India Today, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir said that "The killed terrorist has been identified as Aqib Mustaq Bhat of Pulwama. He initially worked for a terror outfit, but nowadays he was working with The Resistance Front (TRF). The killer of Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma has been neutralised." The Resistance Front is a militant outfit active in Jammu and Kashmir born as an off-shoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). TRF was founded as an online organisation following the repeal of Article 370 and the revocation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Two security officials injured in the encounter have been identified as NK Hemraj and CT Pawan. They are receiving medical care at the 92 Base Hospital. Two days prior to the encounter, militants in Pulwama area shot and killed a 40-year-old bank ATM guard who was a Kashmiri Pandit. That was Kashmir's first attack on a member of a minority group this year. Terrorists killed 18 individuals in over 30 attacks on civilians last year, including three Kashmiri Pandits, an Indian bank manager, a Jammu-based teacher, and eight non-native workers.

In view of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, India Tracker takes a look at the security situation in J&K over the years.

Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal

The data shows that there has been no significant reduction in the instances of killing in J&K. The article 370 and article 35A which provided a special status to the erstwhile state of J&K were abrogated on August 5, 2019. The central government has claimed on various occasions that the security situation has improved in the region and the region is returning to normalcy. But data shows a different story as the incidents of killings have increased after the abrogation of article 370. But at the same time, though the incidents of killing have increased, there is a fall in the number of deaths of civilians and security forces. The year 2020 witnessed the highest number of deaths of terrorists after the revocation of the special status.

Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal

Taking a look at the number of terrorism related incidents in J&K, it can be easily understood that the region stands far from returning to normalcy. The highest number of terrorism related incidents (597) were reported in 2018. The year 2021 witnessed the second highest number of terrorism related incidents (460) in last 10 years.

Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said there were certain media reports of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti highlighting their security concerns. The government has taken a number of steps to safeguard the lives of minorities, including group security in the form of static guards, day and night area control, round-the-clock "nakas" at key locations, among other things. According to him, 2,639 of the 3,000 government posts provided for Kashmiri migrants under the Prime Minister's Development Package, 2015 have been assigned in the last five years.

Though the central government has taken several steps in protecting the lives of Kashmiri pandits and ensuring their safety, the data and the death of Sanjay Sharma clearly tells that Kashmir valley remains unsafe even today for the Kashmiri Pandits.