Sarla Bhat was a hardworking nurse at Anantnag in the locality of Qazibagh and was employed in the department of neonatology at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura. She is in the oath that she adheres to despite the turbulent years of early 1990s when terrorists in the Valley were intimidating government employees to quit their jobs and flee.
She was also kidnapped on April 18, 1990, in Habba Khatoon Hostel of SKIMS by the members of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). April 19 was the following day; her body was discovered in Srinagar ridden with bullet holes and a note was found indicating that she was a police informant. Investigation into her killing proved that she was murdered by three of JKLF militants and a case was filed against them at Nigeen police station.
The symbolic attribute of Sarla was her insurrection. She did not give in to the militant threats and reported to the hospital and lived in her house despite the threat. Said intrepid position brought her to be attacked. She publicly opposed the threats of JKLF and she was not going to give up her work or her home. That rebelliousness stood her out in the eyes of the terrorists, according to a top investigator who spoke to CNN-News18.
Her family was intimidated even after her grisly murder. People advised them not to even go to her cremation, a bone-chilling indication of the atmosphere of fear that Kashmiri Pandits had to exist in.
In a matter of decades, Sarla Bhat could not get justice. The case languished in police records until 2024 when it was transferred to the State Investigation Agency (SIA) that is reviving unsolved cases of terror against the Kashmiri Pandits as part of a renewed investigation strategy by the Jammu and Kashmir administration under Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha.
According to an official to CNN-News18, it is a message being sent over, and no matter the passage of time, the state will seek justice on behalf of terror victims.
It is not only a story of tragedy but also of courage as it serves to remind us of the people who braved terror and gave the supreme sacrifice to their valour.
