Mir, Bhalla, others visit Migrant Camps at Vesu, Mattan
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 22: JKPCC president GA Mir along with working president Raman Bhalla, Raman Mattoo, Gulzar Ahmed Wani, Vijay Sharma, Jatin Vashisht, Farooq Bhat District president Kulgam today visited Migrant Camps Vesu, Mattan to meet agitating Kashmiri Pandits PM Package employees and others and extended party’s support to the various demands of the community.
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However Congress leaders denied permission to visit Sheikhpora to meet deceased Rahul Bhat’s family and his relatives.
Reacting over this Mir said ,” Someone has died, how can it be a law and order issue?” asked Mir . “Is it a crime to sympathize with family members of Rahul Bhat. It is too much that we cannot go out to meet aggrieved people and should remain confined in our houses when people are suffering on all counts,”Mir questioned.
Speaking on the occasion, Mir said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi always remains sensitive to the problems and sufferings of Kashmiri migrants. We have full sympathy with them and previous UPA Government under Manmohan Singh tried its best to help the community,” he said during his interaction with the community leaders. The Congress leader said the community’s desire to return with safety and security was a right demand and all have to work together to see their genuine rights fulfilled.”Till then every sort of necessary help needs to be extended to them,” he said.
Mir assured the community that Congress will take up their demands on every concerned platform. He expressed shock over loss of lives of migrants who have been targeted time and again. He regretted that the BJP led NDA Govt has miserably failed to check the Pak designs and to ensure security and safety of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla said BJP is completing eight years in power this year. While their manifesto has always spoken of the situation of the Pandits, those who actually live in ghettos in the shape of transit camps feel that there is no value to their lives for the BJP. He said BJP has done nothing to improve the condition of the community in the eight years that it had. For months they have been protesting to increase the relief amount from Rs 13,000 per family to Rs 25,000 per family, is this not in the BJP’s control?”
Bhalla said their existence in camps even after they voted for the BJP explains how little the party cares about on-ground impact. They feel that while they were promised return and resettlement, in effect they see no change, but only a spike in attacks on community members. He said the return policies which are still in the nascent stages should not push Pandits to ghettoisation; rather they should aim at coexistence with Kashmiri Muslims. He said only 17% of the proposed accommodation for Kashmiri Pandits has been completed in the past seven years. Till February this year, construction of only 1,025 units had been partially or fully completed, while work at more than 50% units was yet to start.
Bhalla said that the protesting Pandits were deeply agitated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s inaction concerning the killing. There is lack of efforts by the UT administration as well as the Union Government to resettle migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.The government says there is no militancy, but in the last one year, the graph has gone up. The situation is not better, as is being portrayed by certain media and of course there is a massive political vacuum.”
Meanwhile, Mir and Bhalla also visited tunnel tragedy site in Ramban area and demanded judicial probe into the matter. They demanded Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia relief for the deceased’s families.
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