Published 14:26 IST, March 30th 2022
BJP seeks severe punishment for Bitta Karate for active role in Kashmiri Pandit genocide
BJP's J&K president Ravinder Raina called for severe punishment against Bitta Karate, accused of killing several Kashmiri Pandits during the '90s genocide.
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Jammu and Kashmir President Ravinder Raina, on Wednesday, called for severe punishment against Bitta Karate, who is accused of killing several Kashmiri Pandits during their 1990 exodus. Raina's statement came after the reopening of cases against Karate by a Srinagar court.
The BJP's top leader in Jammu and Kashmir, Raina, said in a video that Bitta Karate targeted Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, and nationalist Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1990 exodus. He claimed that Bitta Karate was working on the orders of the leaders of the ISI and Pakistani terrorist organisations.
Ravinder Raina also blamed the government of that period. He said when police arrested Bitta Karate, the then government and advocate generals failed to fight the case the way it should have been fought. He further added that because of their failure, Bitta Karatay was set free for lack of evidence.
Even though Bitta Karate admitted to killing several Kashmiri Pandits on several platforms, he was set free. The BJP's J&K President, Raina, blamed the then government for not giving justice to the Kashmiri Pandits. Speaking about Satish Tickoo, Raina said that Tickoo was one of our workers who was killed by Bitta Karatay. In the video, Raina also said that Tickoo's family has now moved to the Srinagar Court for justice.
Raina argued that Bitta should be punished for his unforgivable sins. The BJP leader in J&K called Bitta a dreaded Pakistani terrorist.
Srinagar Court to hear murder trial against Bitta Karate
On March 30, the Srinagar Court began a trial against the JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) terrorist and most visible face of Pakistan's diktat Bitta Karate, which amounted to the redemption of the Kashmiri Pandits' exodus of 1990 and a major relief to the history of the ousted community from Jammu and Kashmir. The topic at hand was brought up by the family of Satish Tickoo, who was killed, and the motion is backed by activist Vikas Raina.
Earlier today in an exclusive conversation with Republic TV, the International Coordinator for the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora Utpal Kaul said, "Today is going to be a historic day as the hearing at Srinagar court on the Bitta Karate case will begin."
Bitta Karate: Killer of several Kashmiri Pandits
Bitta Karate alias Farooq Ahmed Dar was accused of killing many Kashmiri Pandits during their 1990 exodus which he later admitted to doing too. In an interview in 1991, Karate had said that he killed more than '20 Kashmiri Pandits' or 'maybe more than 30-40' while Kashmiri Pandits said that they regarded the JKLF terrorist as the 'Butcher of Pandits'
Updated 14:26 IST, March 30th 2022