Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha hands over job letters to kin of terror victims

BARAMULLA: As the J&K government dismantles the terror ecosystem by going after terrorists and overground workers (OGWs), it has embarked on a parallel journey to honour, compensate and reward families destroyed by terrorists with wanton killings of their kin, only because they stood up to them or refused to join or help them.J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday distributed the first batch of job appointment letters to the next-of-kin (NOK) of around 50 families who had seen terrorists brutally snuff the life out of their father, mother, brother or sister, in many cases their sole breadwinner, since the onset of terrorism in J&K.The accounts of NOKs of the terror-hit families who were given job letters by the LG - ironically, coinciding with J&K Martyrs' Day - are horrific.

One of them was Abida Bano's family from Kupwara. Abida, who was just 15 years old, was killed in firing by terrorists on July 22, 2003, because her family refused to open the door when they had come looking for information.At the function was also Raja Begum from Kupwara who had seen her husband and three children gunned down by terrorists in 1999 only because the family believed in staying away from conflict. There were also families of three friends - Haseeb Khan, 20, Irfan Sheikh, 22 and Mohd Asgar Sheikh, 24 - who were killed by LeT terrorists at point blank range in Baramulla in 2018 after they were used as pawns in a war they never joined.

For years, NOKs had to face social isolation and economic hardship, running from pillar to post to get compensation or a job due to them. In many cases, police did not even register an FIR; terrorists forced some to vacate their properties. Ironically, the very terrorists who destroyed these families were hailed as freedom fighters with local politicians attending their mass funerals until five to six years back. Even terror OGWs were appointed by past dispensations to posts in the J&K administration and police.Sheetal Sen, whose brother Hansraj was gunned down by terrorists in Kishtwar in 2001, told TOI, "Since then I have run from pillar to post for a job. I was turned away each time asking to get some document or the other. But LG Manoj Sinha acknowledged our hardship and has given me a job in health department."The latest scheme to assist and facilitate NOKs of terror victims, finalised by Sinha in consultation with the UT administration and police, offers four benefits focused on 'justice and jobs'. These include jobs or self-employment avenues to NOK; financial compensation due to them under MHA guidelines; filing and pursuing police FIRs where justice was denied; restoration of properties taken away from these families by the terrorists.NOKs will be handheld by the J&K administration to start self-employment ventures with PM Mudra loans that now have a Rs 20 lakh limit.