Reacting strongly to the recent chargesheet regarding Sarla Bhat’s killing, BJP’s Chief Spokesperson Sunil Sethi described her as “Kashmir’s own daughter”, whose brutal rape and murder epitomised the targeted atrocities faced by the Pandit community, he added.
Sethi emphasised that after 36 long years, the PM Modi led government is ensuring justice where previous regimes failed.
“One perpetrator is in Pakistan, another — Yasin Malik — is in jail. Full justice must follow. During the UPA era under PM Manmohan Singh, terrorists were invited for tea in Delhi while innocent Kashmiri Pandits like Sarla Bhat’s family cried for justice with no one listening. It is the PM Modi led government that is delivering justice to the Pandits,” Sethi told reporters.
Sethi , who was flanked by Altaf Thakur, called upon intellectuals and the people of Kashmir to stand firmly with the Pandits. “Those who tried to justify or downplay such heinous crimes must introspect. Kashmiris must stand shoulder to shoulder with their Pandit brothers and sisters. Only by returning their dignity and ensuring justice can we rebuild a truly homogeneous and harmonious society in Kashmir,” he asserted. Sethi added that the world is watching Kashmir, and with the clouds of terrorism largely dissipated, the focus must now shift to healing, reconciliation and the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland
Sarla Bhat, a 27-year-old staff nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar, was abducted from the vicinity of the hospital in mid-April 1990. She was subjected to horrific torture, sexual assault and brutal murder. Her bullet-riddled and mutilated body was later recovered, reportedly bearing the acronym of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The killing was not an isolated incident but part of a concerted campaign of targeted violence against Kashmiri Pandits amid rising militancy, which sowed widespread terror and forced thousands of families to flee their ancestral homes.
For over 36 years, the family and the broader Pandit community awaited justice as the case languished. The SIA’s exhaustive investigation, reopened in recent years, has compiled a formidable body of evidence, including protected witness statements, eyewitness accounts, forensic and ballistic reports, and medical evidence. The chargesheet identifies five accused: Yasin Malik (currently in Tihar Jail on terror-related charges), absconding terrorist Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo (believed to be in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and alleged to have pulled the trigger), and three deceased individuals — Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo.
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