Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 6: A Kashmiri Pandits have urged the Government to come clear on the honourable and dignified return and rehabilitation of the displaced Pandits from Valley in their homeland.
The demand was made in a meeting by some social activists of the community here today. Addressing the meeting Pinto a leader of Vishaw Kashmiri Samaj and a social activist said since the scrapping of Article 370 and 35 -A on August 5 from the State there has been no official word on the rehabilitation of exiled Pandits.
The meeting which threadbare discussed the issue of Pandits return said KPs being the aborigines of Valley with over 5000 year old rich cultural history are important stakeholders on Kashmir. It demanded that the community be taken into confidence on their rehabilitation in Valley.
The meeting said that community is living in exile for last 30 years and it is strange that none of the perpetrators of their genocide has been brought to book which is constantly giving them a sense of deprivation. “If the loss of home and hearth livelihood was the first big consequences of militant violence to begin with, lack of comprehensive compensation and rehabilitation schemes from Government and progressive degradation of their stake and engagement in Valley, has rendered a common KP numb and powerless”, it added.
Those whose houses were burnt were paid petty compensation, the lands and other property of the displaced people have been encroached in Valley. The community has not been paid any compensation on account of loss of crops, damage to properties by man made or natural calamities like earthquake of 2005. A sizable number of community who were in prime youth during the exodus time have now become middle aged losing their precious years of life in struggle without any source of income and they are in depression. The meeting while lauding the Government’s initiative to renovate temples in Valley demanded constitution of Shrines and Temples Board as demanded by Pt. Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust which has launched a struggle for the same.
It also demanded a handsome compensation not less than Rs 25 lakh to over aged youth for their rehabilitation. The meeting among others was addressed by P L Thusoo, T K Dhar, Ajay Bhat, Ramesh Koul, Ajay Razdan, Kundan Lal Raina, Inderjeet Raina, Chuni Lal, Chand Ji, Deep Ji etc.
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