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Kashmiri Pandits, employed under the prime minister's package, on Tuesday threatened to undertake mass migration from the Kashmir Valley if the government did not relocate them to safe places within the next 24 hours as they hit the streets at various places to protest against the killing of a lady teacher by terrorists in Kulgam district.
"We have decided that if the government did not take any concrete steps for us (safety) within 24 hours, there will be mass migration again," one of the protestors said in Srinagar.
The targeted killing of Kashmiri Pandits is continuing and the community is now tired of making appeals to the government, he added.
"We should be relocated so that we can be saved. Our delegation had met the LG (Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha) earlier and we had asked him to save us. We are asking for temporary relocation for two to three years till situation in the valley returns to normal. It is the same time frame put by the IGP Kashmir for making Kashmir terrorism free," he added.
A handful of Kashmiri Pandit employees assembled at the Ghanta Ghar at Lal Chowk in the hearr of Srinagar to protest against the killing, the officials said.
Another group of employees assembled at Batwara in the Sonawar area of Srinagar and raised slogans against the Union territory administration for its failure to ensure foolproof security for employees of Hindu communities.
The protestors, mostly women, raised slogans like 'Administration hai hai (down with the administration)', 'minorities ko jeene do (let the minorities live)' and 'We want justice'.
In Qazigund, South Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandit employees blocked one tube of the Jammu-Srinagar national nighway to protest the killing of Rajni Bala inside a school at Gopalpora in Kulgam district on Tuesday.
The protestors appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene and ensure security of the Kashmiri Pandit minorities.
Rahul Bhat was killed inside a Tehsil office on May 12 and today our sister Rajni Bala was shot dead inside the school," one of the protestors said.
"Kashmiri Pandits are on the roads now, there is no hope of survival," he added.
Protests against the teacher's murder rocked several parts of Jammu city as well on Tuesday, with protesters burning an effigy of the administration and raising slogans against Pakistan.
In Jammu, Kashmiri Pandits took out a rally in the Durga Nagar area to protest Rajni Bala's killing and the administration's "total failure" to protect them. They also raised slogans against Pakistan.
Terming the killing a "cowardly act", the protesters said assurances given by the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure the safety of minorities in the Valley have proved to be false.
Some demanded that members of the community be provided arms licences to enable them to possess weapons for their protection.
"There have been 22 killings of Hindus by terrorists in the Valley and over 14 people have been injured. Four temples have been attacked. This is an undeclared assault on minorities in Kashmir and the government is saying that the situation is normal," Kashmiri Pandit leader Vinod Tickoo said.
The Dogra Front also took out a protest rally in the city. Two hundred Bajrang Dal activists also held a protest against Bala's killing.
They raised slogans against the Jammu and Kashmir administration for failing to protect government employees belonging to the minority community. They blocked a road for an hour and burnt an effigy of the administration.
"The government should grant us arms licences, we will fight in Kashmir. Minority Hindu employees serving in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley should also be given weapons for their personal protection," Rakesh Kumar, president of the Bajrang Dal's Jammu unit, told reporters.
Shiv Sena activists led by the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit president Manish Sahni also held a protest against Bala's killing. Sahni told reporters that all the assurances of security given by the central and state governments are proving to be completely false.
Sahni also demanded that people be granted arms licences to be able to fight terrorism in the Kashmir Valley. Licensed weapons in the hands of people is the only way for them to protect themselves and their families, he added.
Activists of Mission Statehood Jammu and Kashmir also held a protest at the Janipur high court road in Jammu and blocked traffic. They raised anti-Pakistan slogans and demanded that all government employees from the minority community be transferred to Jammu from Kashmir.
Bala's was the seventh targeted killing in Kashmir this month. While three of the victims were off-duty policemen, four were civilians.