K K Khosa
Abrogation of articles 370 & 35A is a watershed event in the constitutional journey of our nation. After the country gained it’s independence from the British yoke it was confronted with huge challenges of various hues. The British handed us over a completely devastated economy and a thoroughly fractured political structure which stemmed from the faulty narrative of the two nation theory on the one hand and the challenging task of uniting about six hundred small principalities and kingdoms by bringing them under one umbrella to form a single nation. The massacre of about one million people in the wake of the partition on either side of the Radcliffe line added another daunting challenge to the other challenges stated above. The millions of people who crossed over into India settled at different places as refugees and the new government was confronted with yet another daunting task of making provisions for their shelter survival and livelihood. It took almost three years to frame the constitution of India which would be the holy book of governance for the young nation. Given the exigencies of the situation and the socio-cultural and religious diversity of the nation special provisions had to be incorporated into the constitution which were purely temporary in nature. With the passage of time many such temporary provisions were amended, repealed or rephrased whenever the situation demanded in an evolving democracy, as has happened in our own erstwhile state recently.
“The recent visit of Amit Shah the union home minister for the first time after J&K’s reorganization was long awaited especially by the stakeholders whose lives have been directly impacted by these changes. We were all keen to hear in person about the roadmap that the GOI has chalked out for the future of our union territory and it’s nationalist people. Being a border state the challenges of it’s inhabitants are multifaceted which need constant attention and redresal by the UT and the GOI on a regular basis. The very fact that it was a four day visit wherein the HM addressed huge rallies to reconnect with the people at large, had interactions with different delegations, paid a visit to the border areas interacting with it’s residents and also held a high level meeting with the security establishment is indicative of the importance he gave to his visit. “Undoubtedly the dark shadows of the recent spate of targeted killings in the valley were looming large on his visit. He expressed his disappointment publicly over the fact that the security establishment had failed in restoration of complete peace and normalcy in the valley inspite of more than two years having passed since the reorganization of the state. He also made the announcement that the security grid would be further strengthened to ensure safety of the minorities and others who have faith in the constitution of India while warning terrorists and antinationals of dire consequences. “Although bad weather forced a change of schedule yet the HM made sure to keep up with the schedule of meeting the few shortlisted delegations even though it may have been a brief meeting.
“The Kashmiri Pandits have been longing for a redresal of their multiple issues which have mushroomed over the years having been in wilderness for the past three decades. The most important of the issues is that of return and rehabilitation back in Kashmir. With every passing day our hopes are fading away as there is still no light visible at the end of the tunnel. Being away from their ancestral habitat it is becoming more difficult for them to preserve their distinct ethnic culture and identity. Although a sizeable number may have been able to prosper and grow after the exodus yet even for this section of people the gigantic task of preservation of culture is a big challenge. “The very brief meeting with the home minister was not satisfying as we could not dwell on our concerns in detail. Due to paucity of time we could not get any assurances on the few pressing problems that were raised by us. The only assurance we got was that both the UT government and the GOI are seized of the matters which would be got resolved shortly. On a positive note the main takeaway from this meeting with the home minister is that the minuscule community of Kashmiri Pandits has once again been added to the list of stakeholders whose inalienable right to regain the land of their ancestors has to be recognized and respected.“When the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji convened the all party meeting in Delhi on the 24th of June as an ice breaking exercise to engage with every stakeholder of Jammu and Kashmir the minuscule community of Kashmiri Pandits were disappointed on being excluded from this all important meeting ostensibly for the reason that only representatives of political parties had been invited.
We had appreciated the initiative in our communication to the Prime Minister since that’s what astute statesmanship would have pushed for. In the same communication we had expressed our disappointment over being excluded from the meeting since a community which has been in dispersal for about thirty two years cannot be expected to organize itself politically so as to qualify for inclusion in such a meeting. “We made it clear that this act by the GOI was both unwarranted and unfair especially in view of the fact that the successive governments had failed in their fundamental duty of safeguarding the lives and properties of it’s law abiding citizens, forcing them to lead a life of refugees in their own country.
Undoubtedly the exclusion had sent wrong signals. “With no forthright assurances on any of our pressing issues coming from the home minister we are left with no option except to wait patiently till consideration of our issues including the most crucial issue of our return and rehabilitation back in the land of our ancestors is brought back on to the front burner by the GOI. The community still has high expectations from the prime Minister of India who has expressed himself on more than one occasion that he is very particular about resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits back in the valley. Surely the GOI must have framed a sound policy in this respect which perhaps they do not want to divulge at this point. Perhaps the last line by the famous poet John Milton in his poem “On his blindness”, “they also serve who only stand and wait” is very appropriate to describe our predicament.
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