B L Saraf
Return of the Pandits to the Valley is in hot news . Earlier also, many a trial balloon was floated in this regard but nothing materialized. We hope it is real this time. Governor Staya Pal Malik has announced Government’ intentions to bring Pandits back to Kashmir. Some days back he told a national daily about his plans. He gave a broad hint that the Pandits will be settled in separate townships for which land will be acquired , at different places. Malik identified certain places where Pandits can live safely. He explained the need for separate places : ” it is not a matter of choice but necessity that they should have a nice place to live .”He appreciated their concern for safety and said “they deserve safety as leaders enjoying in the state.”
This is a welcome statement. It marks a serious departure from the past announcements . Primarily, for realizing the urgency of matter and then mincing no words when it comes to finding places for the displaced Pandits to live in Kashmir . Probably, for the first time the admission has come from the state that the ancestral places, from where Pandits were uprooted , stand usurped . So it carries no sense to tell them to go there and live as they used to before the exodus. Then, there is the Governor’s message to the local leadership that their lukewarm attitude towards the return of the displaced persons was not an appreciable one. He made them conscious of the duty and, in a veiled form , impressed upon them to be the facilitators in the process. Well said, Your Excellency !
True , it is essentially the responsibility of the Government to ensure safe and dignified return of the exilee. Kashmir Civil Society and the local leadership have to be the facilitators in the endeavor.
We understand that GOI does not hold referendum to settle local issues . So KPs shouldn’t expect to be asked to vote for their return plan. However, they being the vital stakeholders in the process which has direct bearing on their future – as they have to live there, it is only natural for the Government to have , at least, a sense of their feeling on the issue. The displaced must have the inkling of what is to come in the plan before they are asked to embark on the return. Nonetheless, the displaced community itself has a huge duty cast on to see the government’s effort, as and when put in real motion , bears fruit. This is a delicate issue, still in embryonic stage. One has to tread cautiously. Every word spoken or action contemplated has to be tempered with a sound reason. Before articulating a view on the subject regard for its general acceptance, desirability and achievability of the object has to be kept in mind. There is every possibility of Pandits losing a right to be heard if they keep harping on the unachiev- able objects, raised in purposeless cacophony and go on interjecting extraneous issues. Whenever need arises for a comment it ought to be made in unison , after due deliberations and enough thought process having gone into. The tendency to cut one another, by raising mutually contradictory voices , must be avoided at all costs .
For the displaced it has been decades long wait for the return – months more waiting can’t be that harmful, if a well thought out plan of return and rehabilitations consumes some more time to get unveiled. Community concerns must be taken into the consideration and its genuine apprehensions should be addressed . After all, it is not for the first time that Pandits have suffered the unintended exodus.
It will be highly desirable to have some clarity on the concept of separate townships. It must not be left to the ambiguous and unintended interpretations . Because the issue has inbuilt fault lines, prone to explode anytime with a derailing effect on the process. Nobody will like a caged and inhibitive living. It shouldn’t be to the total exclusion of other communities living in the Valley.
Nobody should have any illusion that Pandits’ return to Kashmir is subject to the clearance of any non state actor / actors.The displaced are their own masters in this regard. Nevertheless, by way of abundant caution, that the return initiative doesn’t abort, the Government must learn from the past experience that it is not a good strategy to mix other kind of settlements with that of the Pandits . It is a good sign that prominent separatist leaders have come openly for the return of the exile. If not for anything else but to ensure that a mischief potential is eliminated, the separatists stance is a well come development .
As flagged by the Governor Malik , we feel assured that security concerns of the returnee Pandits will be taken care of. But something more needs to be done. For them to live there honorably and have means of a good living Pandts need economic safety, also. Thirty years long separation has deprived them of means of livelihood. Government must give due thought to this aspect and analyze it after taking Pandit youth into the confidence. They have as much aspirations as youth of any other community does have. Make no mistake! Pandits living in Kashmir largely depends upon how their young ones take to the place. Mere assurance of job will not satisfy them. The unfulfilled PM Package of 2008 discourages them to fall in line with the bald state assurance. Non fulfillment of this package has dampened their hopes .
It may not be out of place to say that for a peaceful living of all some sort of closure must be there for the issues that often threaten peace in Kashmir. It is good and timely that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has touched the issues, rather seriously. He told public in Kathua the other day “Kashmir problem is bound to be solved , no power on earth can stop from happening it.”
Pray : it happens soon !
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
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