SRINAGAR: Following the killing of a Sikh by unidentified gunmen in southern Tral area on Friday, all Sikh sarpanchs and panchs of Pulwama district resigned in occupied Kashmir.
35 sarpanchs and panchs from the Sikh community have sent their resignations to the deputy commissioner Pulwama, as per reports. However, it added that the resignations have not yet been accepted.
The announcement of resignations came on Wednesday after various Sikh bodies assembled at Khasipora Village (native village of slain Sikh man Simranjeet Singh) in Tral.
“We just want to know who has killed Simranjeet. We want Hurriyat to condemn this act and we want the government to investigate the matter,” said All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) chairman Jagmohan Raina.
Pertinently, panchayat elections were held in November last year. There was no contest in majority of the panchayat halqas and panch wards in Pulwama district because either there was only one contender in fray, or the wards remained vacant because there was no contestant at all. Many migrant and local Sikh candidates had filed their nominations for panchayat polls in Pulwama and won unopposed.
