Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 5: The members of Executive Committee, Kashmiri Pandit Sabha (KPS) wholeheartedly appreciated the open-arm welcome by Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of JKUT to the displaced Kashmiri Pandits’ to the Valley.
In the Executive Committee Meeting of the Sabha (KPS), held under the chairmanship of president, K. K. Khosa, the members deliberated upon the recent statements made by both, the president of the National Conference (NC), Dr. Farooq Abdullah and the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, with regard to their opinion on the re-establishment of pluralistic society in the Kashmir Valley with the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
It is to emphasize that unfavourable conditions led to the exodus of more than four lakh Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley during 1989-90 and remained displaced ever since. The expression of open-arm welcome by both, Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, needs to be anchored with a clearly defined policy framework or institutional backing, acknowledging the gravity and complexity of the issue. Despite the formation of elected Government in the UT, comprehensive, credible, and time-bound return and rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri Pandits has never ever been deliberated on the floor of the House. Besides, key issues relating to personal security, housing, employment, restoration or compensation of properties, and social reintegration have remained undiscussed.
The Sabha further noted that immovable property left behind by Pandits in the Valley after the mass exodus has been encroached upon, damaged, or alienated under distress conditions. Expecting displaced families to return to their ancestral homes without providing legal safeguards, administrative facilitation and institutional support risks perpetuating insecurity and uncertainty.
The Executive Committee urged upon Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, to initiate structured and time-bound engagement with recognized representatives of the community in order to evolve a workable and consensus-based return and rehabilitation policy in the backdrop of the sensitivity to experience of displacement.
Sabha said that dignified return and rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits is a long-pending commitment of the ruling party, as reflected in their manifesto, and must now move from rhetoric to resolute action. Any attempt to reduce this commitment to symbolic gestures will give rise to deep mistrust and lead to delay in the delivery of justice, it said.
The Sabha reiterated its demand for a credible roadmap on return and rehabilitation of displaced Pandits keeping three non-negotiable principles in view, security, livelihood, and dignity. The establishment of secure residential settlements in the three erstwhile districts of Kashmir, supported by fast-track judicial processes for targeted crimes, is essential to restore confidence and trust in the present Government, it said.
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