Sikh leaders on Saturday accused the government of failing to protect the minorities in Kashmir and said they would not join work unless their safety was ensured.

Fear has gripped the Valley after a spate of civilian killings by suspected militants. Four of them, including a Sikh woman who was a school principal, belonged to minority communities. Muslims are in majority in Kashmir.

A few dozen Kashmiri Pandit families have migrated to Jammu following the killings while hundreds of government employees from minority communities have stopped going to office fearing for their lives.

Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee general secretary president Navtej Singh on Saturday told a media conference that minority community members would not join their duties in government offices unless the administration assured that they would be protected in Kashmir.

“Life is more precious than anything else. We are living in fear. An unarmed lady was killed inside her school. Naturally all employees are scared. Unless the government ensures their protection,

they won’t attend duty,” Singh said.

A government official said the administration was encouraging the minorities to stay home until the situation eased.

Singh said it was the prime duty of the government to protect the minorities but it had failed.

“Otherwise, how is it possible to enter a school and kill people? Moreover, it was already in the knowledge of the government as a doctor (pharmacist) and a (non-local vendor) had been killed a day earlier,” he said.

The pharmacist, who was a Kashmiri Pandit, and the vendor were killed on October 5. Two days later, militants killed the Sikh school principal and a teacher, a Kashmiri Pandit.

Scores of Sikhs on Friday staged a protest in Srinagar, where they raised slogans against the Resistance Front, a militant group believed to be behind the killings.

Sikhs, who number less than a lakh in Kashmir, have vowed to stay on.

But some Kashmiri Pandit families have migrated to Jammu, prompting the Valley leadership to urge them not to leave.

BJP youth leader Sahil Tikoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, said they must return and “face the battleground with valour”.

“This fear of being dead has to go and now is the time. Either we face them now or we stop crying over it. We can’t be scared of these cowards,” Tikoo tweeted.

Sikh leader Budha Singh said some people had claimed that the Sikh principal was killed for hoisting the Indian flag on Independence Day, wondering whether the scores of members of the majority Muslim community in Kashmir who too had unfurled the Tricolour would also be targeted.

The national flag was raised at many places on August 15 on the government’s directions.

“Will they do the same with (slain militant) Burhan Wani’s father who also raised the flag? A 1,000-odd schools did so at the government’s behest. Will they also be targeted? Our biggest medical institute has a Tricolour on top of it, will they kill the director?” he asked.