Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 20: The Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC) has made a strong appeal to the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in Washington, DC, urging formal recognition of the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) as genocide and ethnic cleansing.
In a detailed letter addressed to the IHRC, KPC President Kundan Kashmiri highlighted the suffering of the Pandit community, which has remained in exile for the past 36 years.
The letter stated that over four lakh Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee the Kashmir Valley in 1990 following a wave of terrorism, targeted killings, and religious extremism.
The community’s homes were looted, temples desecrated, and lives uprooted in what the KPC called a “well-planned ethnic cleansing”.
KPC referred to a 2022 report by the International Commission for Human Rights and Religious Freedom, which concluded that the violence was ideologically driven and amounted to genocide.
KPC has now demanded that the Government of India acknowledge this genocide and form a Judicial Commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the events from 1986 onwards.
The memorandum further called for a one-place settlement of displaced Pandits in Kashmir under Union Territory administration, with full infrastructure, security, and constitutional safeguards.
KPC also asked for formal recognition of Kashmiri Pandits as the indigenous people of the Valley, and protection of their temples and shrines through a special board.
Additionally, KPC sought IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) status for all displaced Pandits and demanded a comprehensive compensation package covering loss of life, property, and livelihood.
KPC leader Kundan Kashmiri hoped that the international bodies and the Indian Government will treat the issue as a humanitarian crisis and take urgent steps to restore the rights, dignity, and future of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community.
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