EAM Jaishankar to meet Kashmiri Pandit Tika Lal Taploo’s family

EAM Minister S Jaishankar will meet the family of Tika Lal Taploo, one of the first victims of the terrorist’s ire, on July 3, at his family’s residence in Rohini, New Delhi.

Tika Lal Taploo, a 59-year-old leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a cherished Kashmiri Pandit known for his love of the community and nation, was brutally killed in broad daylight on September 14, 1989.

On this day in 1989, the tallest leader of the Kashmiri pandit community, Pt Tika Lal Taploo, fell victim to the terrorist’s ire. He was killed for several reasons, the most important being that he was well-known and a visible leader of the beleaguered community and commanded respect from every quarter of the society.

Tika Lal Taploo’s killing set off a series of target killings of Kashmiri pandit leaders and activists at the hands of trigger-happy militants who, much like ISIS mad skulls, found joy in counting the heads.

This dance of death continued with impunity, so much so that a terrorist had the audacity to confess on a local TV he had killed so many Kashmiri Pandits and that he had lost the exact count. Thereafter this day assumes significance in our life in exile and is etched in our collective memory.

Javed Ahmed Mir, alias Javed Nalka was believed to be behind the murder of Tika Lal Taploo. Reports suggested Taploo’s murder was well planned, and the killers knew his daily routine. It was believed Nalka executed the murder as a retaliation to the efforts made by Taploo to send bricks and funds for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.