Sir,
It stands to no logic that Kashmiri Pandit community hounded out from their hearths and homes of more than 5000 years roots, and living outside Kashmir for the last 28 years, are asked to “take part” in the proposed elections to Municipal Bodies and Panchayats by postal ballots. It is difficult to comprehend as to whether, like this act of attaching them cosmetically and spuriously with Kashmir where they are not allowed to live, they can take any part in the democratic process justifiably and in a manner warranted by the intrinsic tenets of democracy.
I feel the act is tantamount towards disenfranchising them and making a joke of their political rights . Otherwise also, living at a place of the state far from their birthplace for three decades, how the government as well as the State Election Commission thought this act as one demonstrating their levels of wisdom of making such decisions. It merits to be termed as sheer bankruptcy of their policies adopted towards the biggest human dislocation in India after the detestably partitioning the country in 1947 at the behest of communal Muslim League, that of exodus and genocide (akin to) of the ethnic Kashmiri Pandit community.
Denying the voting rights at the present place of living to the exiled community is detestable, reprehensible and resistible by all counts. One generation of this hapless community is no more, consumed by the pangs of exodus , scattering and dislocations of family members one from the other. The next, ie; the present generation is facing neglect in absolute terms in political parlance.
Rohingyas, in most of the cases, can reportedly get ration cards, Aadhar cards, Birth certificates, gas connections and Human Rights Bodies, mushrooming in this country, can vociferously voice their “concerns and problems” but the KP community is made to face humiliation and exclusion from political activities not to speak of addressing the main core burning issue of their reversal of exodus.
I fervently hope that the unjustified decision of postal ballots and not allowing to vote where KPs live, must be reviewed and rescinded forthwith.
Shiban Khaibri
on e-mail
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