Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 18: On the eve of the 30th Kashmiri Pandit Holocaust Day, Panun Kashmir (PK) conducted a joint meeting of its Political Affairs Committee (Pac), Human Rights Committee (HRC), and Daughters of Panun Kashmir (DoPK) here, today. Those who attended the joint meeting included Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president-PK, Virender Raina, chairman-PAC, Lt. General ( retd.) P.S.Mehta, Chairman-HRC, Upinder Kaul, general secretary, Kamal Bagati, general secretary (Org), Prof. K.L.Bhatia, Ashok Chrungoo, Treasurer-PK, Pramod Kumar, Nidhi Tikoo Mitra, Chairperson-DOPK, Dr. Ritu Bakshi, vice chairperson-DOPK, Vimla Chrungoo, secretary-DoPK, B.L.Garyali, Sameer Bhat, convener-PK, Youth, Dr. Shiban Raina (Alwar), Asha Kachru (Hyderabad), Dr. Rajat Mitra (Delhi) and Sanjay Kaul (Boston), Chairman, Overseas Affairs.
The meeting was conducted to discuss the various facets of the struggle in exile and on political equations arising out the coming Parliamentary elections in the country. It also took note of the developments in context of the efforts of P K at the level of UN, UNHRC and SHRC. The meeting adopted a unanimous resolution making an appeal to all the political parties in the State to field displaced Kashmiri Pandit candidates from “Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency which will empower the community as elected representative to represent the primary stakeholders and the original inhabitants of Kashmir in the country’s Parliament.
Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo in his address referred to the intent carried in the two resolutions passed earlier by PK regarding the issues of survival of the displaced community. The first resolution urged the Union Government to enhance the amount of the relief to a minimum of Rs. 5,000 per person. Since the Parliamentary elections are due in April-May 2019 and the Code of Conduct will be applied in a month’s time, the enhancement should be considered favourably and declared on priority basis. Next, the Government of India was also appealed to announce a special employment package for the displaced KP youth for the Central Government jobs to the tune of 1,000 seats in the Jammu & Kashmir State This will be the appropriate confidence building measure for the displaced community in lieu of the upcoming elections in the State as well.
Lt. General (retd.) P.S.Mehta on the occasion said that the Pandits and the Sikh minorities of Kashmir are in a continuous state of facing genocide since they have been forced to live outside their homeland in a scattered and gypsy situation throughout the world. Their “annihilation in part or in whole” is a clear case of continuous genocide.
Virender Raina in his speech said that on the 30th Holocaust Day of Kashmiri Pandits, demands that the Government should set up a “Special Crimes Tribunal” to go into the excesses committed against the minorities by the Islamic terrorists and their cohorts.
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