Uncertain future, financial constraints: Two children of killed Kashmiri Pandits recount horror in valley

On 8 June 2020, Ajay Pandita ‘Bharti’ was gunned down in Anantnag, leaving behind his old parents, wife and two young daughters. A year later, Rakesh Pandita, survived by a son and wife, was killed in Tral. 

Four Hindus have been shot dead in Kashmir within a year. Among them, two had returned to the valley with political affiliations. On 8 June 2020, Ajay Pandita ‘Bharti’ was gunned down in Anantnag, leaving behind his old parents, wife and two young daughters. A year later, Rakesh Pandita, survived by a son and wife, was killed in Tral. Children of the deceased, now connected by the same grief, met in a rare moment of solidarity. Both, below 20 years of age, were facing a sudden and irreparable loss.