B L Saraf
On the final lap to its destination, Srinagar in Kashmir, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to reach Jammu in mid January, 2023. Preparations are afoot to receive Rahul and his entourage. The aim and objective of the Yatra, as Gandhi would tell people, is to strengthen nation’s social fabric which, of late, has come under a strain.
It is to state obvious that, today, we live in a highly polarized world where societies stand riven apart on bigoted considerations and people look at one another with fear and suspicion. Insecurities rule the day. Story is no different in our part of the world. Therefore, any campaign undertaken by anyone to overcome the feeling of insecurity, reinforce inter-societal and inter-communal bond among the people who live in India or have made the country their home is welcome. Viewed thus, Rahual Gandhi’s initiative to unite communities and dispel sense of insecurity among Indians is laudable . To walk down thousands of miles ,across country, braving excruciating extremities of the weather is in itself an achievement .
Jammu and Kashmir has lot of issues to contend with. Some are existential which have assumed gravity in consequences of certain policies pursued by the present Central Government. Therefore, people have questions for Rahul Gandhi to respond while he is in J&K. Some may want him to spell out his mind on now de fanged Articles 370 and 35A, restoration of Statehood, holding of Assembly elections and prevailing security situation.
With no claim to speak for them but being one of the flock that continues to live in wilderness of exile in his own country, I get the sense that the Internally Displaced Kashmiri Pandits, too, have some questions for Rahul Gandhi to answer. As, for good or bad, they have a genesis in the policies and actions initiated by the Congress in 2009 and pursued till it demitted the office .
Pandit boys and girls, who were employed under the Prime Minister’s Package of Relief and Rehabilitation announced in 2009 have been serving in Kashmir since 2011. Though their stay in the Valley was never comfortable yet they stayed put, so long they didn’t feel physically threatened .But in May 2002 situation became perilous as number of their colleagues got martyred while serving in Kashmir . Since then these boys and girls are on the roads in Jammu and Srinagar, braving harsh weather of the places , seeking relocation to Jammu and other safer areas. Same is the story of young boys and girls of the Jammu region who have been serving in Kashmir pursuant to a different scheme. They too are protesting on the streets of Jammu for the identical reason, as some among them also got martyred while on duty in the Valley .
Employment to the Kashmiri displaced youth has been provided in compliance with a component of a nine point Prime Minister’s package of relief and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri migrants. The employment component was given effect to vide SRO 412 dated 30 December, 2009 which was later on amended in 2017 to make it more workable .
The SRO 412, while prescribing criterion and mode of employment called up on the selected person to execute an agreement , prior to the issuance of formal order of appointment, which forbids the selected employee’s transfer outside the Kashmir Valley and also denies him the right to claim such transfer. Today, this agreement comes in way of the package employees to seek relocation outside Kashmir and also ties down hands of the Government to order such a transfer. That the agreement suffers from many legal infirmities was brought to the notice of the authorities when the package rolled out, in 2010 . The desperate job seekers were assured then that with the passage of time this condition would be waved off .
The employees deserve appreciation that till now they have stuck to the place, braving many bad security situations which erupted in 20 17 and 2019. That they were physically unharmed in those tense situations allowed them to face the situation – no matter its severity. Today, these young men /women, devoid of salary, look forlorn and abandoned. Employees need be heard with empathy . True , the Package employees – like most others – are nationalist to the core and take great pride in patriotism .They like their parents have suffered much to keep the flag of nationalism flying in the Valley . Evoking national interest to ask them to stay put when a threat to their physical survival is real will be putting these employees to a harder test which , at the moment, they may not venture. Some time nation too has to stand by its citizen.
Next, the religious and spiritual places of the Hindus in Kashmir stand vandalized by both nature and the men. The displaced Pandits have been persistently demanding a statutory safeguard for their preservation and management which can be ensured if there is an appropriate law in place . In 2009 the State Government led by Omar Abdullah- of which INC was an important partner- introduced Bill 11/ 2009 for Protection and Management of Temples and Shrines n Kashmir. But for the reasons well known it couldn’t pass into a law .
Vivek Tankha, Rajya Sabha Member of INC and a Kashmiri Pandit now settled in MP, has introduced a private members’ Bill No XV111 of 2022 in the Rajya Sabha, titled Kashmiri Pandits (Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2022. The Bill is intended to do justice to the cause of internally displaced Pandits who have been living as refugees in their own country ,since 1990 . Though not all that the displaced KPs want is covered by the Bill , yet its objective is laudable ;
” to provide for social ,political and economic rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits , protection of their property ,restoration of their cultural heritage, ensuring their safety and security ,provision of rehabilitation and resettlement package to them and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto .”
Bill No XV111 has a significant provision. Chapter V, Clause 7 Sub Clause (7) provide for setting up of Kashmiri Hindus Shrine Board on the lines of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Board and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. A timely passage of the BILL XV 111 into a law will be a big CBM for the displaced Kashmiri Hindus The Pandits want that Congress Party should adopt this Bill officially and canvass for passing it into a law . These religious places need continuous care and a democratic management to ensure ” protection and longevity ” which can be provided only by the devotees within the community, provided there is a law to support them.
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions)
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