Kashmiri Pandits Observe Martyr’s Day, Set Up Memorial For Their Leaders

The displaced Kashmiri Pandits today (14 September) observed Martyr’s Day and dedicated a memorial to hundreds of their community leaders and members killed by Pakistani raiders and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947.

The memorial was set up on the banks of the Ranbir canal, a tributary of the river Chanderbagga, popularly known as river Chinab, and was inaugurated by Swami Kumar G and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Council G L Raina, along with British leader Lakshmi Kaul and former Jammu municipal corporation commissioner Kiran Watal.

“...It is a tribute to our community members including leaders, academicians, judges, journalists, teachers, poets and bureaucrats killed by terrorists and Pakistan raiders since 1947,” Atharot organisation chief Kanwal Peshin said.

Meanwhile, in Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits observed Martyr’s Day in Verinag in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. They paid tributes to those killed in violence in the state. A large gathering shouted slogans and paid floral tributes to Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits killed in the valley.

Since 1990, Kashmiri Pandits all across the globe have been observing Martyr’s Day to pay homage to all those who laid down their lives while battling terrorists in Kashmir.

It was on this day, 28 years ago, that Pandit Tika Lal Tiploo, a fearless leader of Kasmiri Pandits, fell to the assassins’ bullets in the streets of Kashmir. The day has acquired a reverential status ever since.

With inputs from PTI.