As many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, and 128 security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the Centre said Wednesday.

Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai also told the Rajya Sabha that 5,502 Kashmiri Pandits had been provided jobs in different departments of the Jammu and Kashmir government in the Valley and no Kashmiri Pandit had reportedly migrated since August 2019.

Rai said there had been substantial decline in terrorist attacks in the past three years — from 417 in 2018 to 229 in 2021.

“From August 5, 2019 till July 9, 2022, 128 security force personnel and 118 civilians were killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of the 118 civilians killed, five were Kashmiri Pandits and 16 belonged to other Hindu and Sikh communities,” he said in a written reply.

The minister said no pilgrim had been killed during this period.

The government has a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and the security situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir, he said. He said jobs to the Kashmiri Pandits were given under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP).

Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the state was bifurcated into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.