Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 24: There has been mixed reaction to Kashmiri Pandits (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill 2022 introduced in Rajya Sabha by Congress MP Vivek Tankha.
Panun Kashmir (PK), has strongly rejected the Bill. It views the Bill as an insidious attempt to derail the national discourse on genocide recognition and to deflect attention from the foundational demands of the displaced community enshrined in the Margdarshan Resolution of 1991.
In a joint statement issued by Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, Chairman, PK, Shailendra Aima, senior Vice Chairman, Daya Krishen Kaul, Vice Chairman and Prof. Tito Ganju, Vice Chairman and Head, Legal Affairs, Panun Kashmir described the Bill as “politically mischievous, legally untenable, and morally hollow.”
Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, stated: “The so-called Bill is not a step forward but a calibrated move to bury the issue of genocide under the garb of generic rehabilitation. This Bill will not deliver justice, it will deliver finality to our displacement, make our genocide invisible in law, and erase the historical and political culpability of the forces that engineered our ethnic cleansing.”
Youth4 PK also rejected the so-called Bill,. In a statement it said “This Bill is not a step toward justice — it is a State-enabled attempt to whitewash a genocide, silence the victims, and suffocate the community’s rightful political aspirations under the garb of policy’’.
“We are not migrants,. We are not displaced persons. We are not a welfare case. We are victims of genocide. In 1990, we were targeted, brutalized, and driven out from our ancestral homeland by Islamist terror, as the Indian State watched in silence. No apology. No prosecution. No tribunal. Now, decades later, we are being asked to accept an insult packaged as reconciliation which we outrightly reject’’.
The Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) extends its deepest gratitude to Vivek Tankha, MP for re-introducing Bill, and termed it a historic step that marked the first legislative effort in Parliament to comprehensively address the injustices suffered by the community.
It said for the first time in the annals of India’s Parliamentary history, a Private Member’s Bill related to the genocide, forced displacement, and ongoing disenfranchisement of the KP community has received the recommendation of the President of India. This is a moment of great moral and constitutional significance. The GKPD offers its sincere gratitude to President Droupadi Murmu also.
Vision Kashmir an organization of Displaced Pandits also welcomed the Bill. In a meeting held under the chairmanship of its convener Sunil Fotedar it complemented Vivek Tankha for tabling the Bill. Fotedar said Bill comes a window of hope against hopes as it covers every aspect of trauma of genocide.
Kashmiri Pandit Displaced Youth Front led by Vinod Pandita while expressing his satisfaction over the tabling of Bill and complimented the Vivek Tankha however made it clear that no rehabilitation can be possible without addressing the core issue of genocide and without taking the community leadership into confidence.
KPC president Kundan Kashmiri said this is very important developement as such private member bill for the first time in the Parliament, has been recommended by the president for consideration in the house.
All India Migrant Camp Coordination Committee (AIMCCC) president, Desh Rattan Pandita while terming the Bill a step in right direction also demanded that core issue of genocide needs to be addressed and for permanent rehabilitation the geopolitical aspirations of the KPs be taken into consideration.
PK senior leader Ramesh Manwati has also opposed the Bill saying no return is possible without a separate homeland within Kashmir with UT status. He said the Government of India needs to act now and through a legislation declare Kashmiri Pandits as the victims of genocide and settle the community in accordance to Marg Darshan Resolution of 1991.
Jammu Kashmir Nationalist United Front (JKNUF) working president, Rakesh Handoo has also rejected the Bill saying that no legislation is acceptable which fails to recognize the KP genocide and other core issues of the community.
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