Kashmiri Pandit migrants protest outside relief commissioner's office in Jammu

A group of Kashmiri Pandit migrants today protested the "attachment" of a senior bureaucrat for issuing a controversial notice seeking details of members of the community visiting the Kheer Bhawani temple for an annual fair.

Dozens of protesters representing different organisations assembled outside the office of relief commissioner at the Canal road in the city and demanded rescinding of the attachment order against the "honest officer".

Deputy Commissioner Relief (Migrants) Kuldeep Krishen Sidha was attached yesterday after the Mehbooba Mufti government revoked a controversial notice which sought details of Kashmiri Pandits visiting Kheer Bhawani temple for an annual fair.

"We have ordered an inquiry into how this notice was issued without the knowledge of any officer in the department, including the minister. The officer who issued the notice had been relieved from the department," Minister for Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Disaster Management, Javaid Mustafa Mir, had said yesterday.

The protesters accused the government of acting in haste and said the notice was issued to ensure better facilities for the pilgrims and there was nothing wrong in it.

"It is unfortunate that the government acted in haste and made an honest officer scapegoat. He issued the notice for ensuring better facilities for the pilgrims intending to visit the Kheer Bhawani," said one of the protesters, Rakesh Kaul.

He claimed that the government acted at the behest of certain Delhi-based Kashmiri Pandit leaders who try to create confusion in the community for their vested interests.