Indo-American Kashmir Forum (IAKF) strongly condemns the ruthless killing of young Kashmiri Hindu peace advocate, Ajay Pandita (Bharti), by terrorists in Kashmir belonging to the Islamic terrorist group, The Resistance Front (TRF).
IAKF prays for Mr. Pandita’s grieving family, including his parents, wife, and two daughters.
Mr. Pandita was a popular grassroot community organizer, and an elected leader of a local village administrative committee from the Anantnag region in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, India. His belief in democracy, and his attempts to represent all Kashmiris at the local village level, was sadly cut short by the barbaric act of Islamic terrorists, whose only belief continues to be the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate.
The targeted killing of Mr. Pandita proves that the ethnic cleansing of the minority Kashmiri Hindu community in the valley continues unabated. His gruesome, public murder is a reminder of the havoc brought upon the entire aboriginal Kashmiri Hindu community, who have been driven from their homeland in the Kashmir valley through repeated pogroms over the past few centuries, most recently beginning in 1990.
IAKF denounces the local government’s lackadaisical approach to the security needs of Mr. Pandita, as well as other lower-tier public officials. IAKF demands that Kashmiri Hindus still residing in the valley – who are obvious targets of Islamic terrorists – be given extra police protection until peace in the valley is restored.
IAKF also condemns the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and its supporters within the Kashmir valley, for promoting, funding, aiding and harboring global Islamic terror organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), and The Resistance Front (TRF). The Resistance Front (TRF), which has taken responsibility for Mr. Pandita’s brutal murder, is merely a new, consolidated name for Islamic terrorists from the three groups already active in Kashmir – HM, LeT and JeM.
The United Nations and its Security Council must now declare Pakistan as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and world leaders must support an organized anti-terrorist campaign against the government and military establishment of Pakistan
Mr. Pandita made the ultimate sacrifice for establishing peace and democracy in Kashmir, and his family deserves swift justice. IAKF demands Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir to immediately institute an official inquiry into this vicious killing, identify the responsible parties, and punish the guilty parties. IAKF also demands that all killings of Kashmiri Hindus be investigated, and actions taken to ensure the long term safety of the Kashmiri Hindu religious minority.
IAKF Board
Dr. Vijay Sazawal, Dr. Rajiv Pandit, Mr. Lalit Koul, Mr. Raj Koul, Dr. Rahul Pandit
IAKF was established in 1991 to inform the world community of the oppression against Kashmiri Pandits that led to their forced exile from Kashmir due to the influx of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism. IAKF wishes to raise awareness of the human rights violations suffered by the Pandit community, many of whom are still living in makeshift ‘refugee’ camps in Jammu, India. The organization seeks the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Kashmir valley with guaranteed security and freedom to exercise their religious faith and cultural way of life without fear or intrusion. IAKF provides reports to the U.S. Administration, U.S. Congress, and several of Washington D.C.’s policy think tanks. For more information, please visit www.iakf.org.