As of now it seems that the only priority Narendra Modi government has set vis a vis Kashmir is the return of Kashmiri Pandits, who had left Kashmir in early 1990s after an armed rebellion broke out in Kashmir.
There are conflicting figures about how many of them left at that time. Kashmiri Pandit organizations claim that 400,000 people migrated, but government figures suggest that 24,202 families went out of Kashmir, which roughly comes to not more than 150,000. Again, government data reveals that 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed.
In his joint address to the parliament on June 9, President Pranab Mukherjee said, “Special efforts will be made to ensure that Kashmiri Pandits return to the land of their ancestors with full dignity, security and assured livelihood.”
This surely was a welcome step, and Kashmiri Muslims have always shown their concern over the plight of Kashmiri Pandits even as they have themselves faced the worst of conflicts in the last 20 years or so. But the way the government is planning to implement the plan of their rehabilitation has caused more concern than the solution to the problem.
[quote]Gun-toting security men may provide security in designated zones, but the real sense of security can only come from the erstwhile neighbours[/quote]
The idea of settling them in three specific zones in central, south and north Kashmir has not gone well with the majority community. Though there is no official confirmation yet, the information is believed to have been leaked by reliable sources in the government. This clearly indicates that the right wing policies are working well to fill in the gaps as per the wishes of Panun Kashmir, the organization of Kashmiri Pandits that has been demanding a separate homeland for them within the valley.
What is more disturbing is that the Omar Abdullah government has reportedly proposed repurchase of their houses disposed of in distress before fleeing Kashmir. This, according to a report in The Hindu, is part of a Rs 5,800-crore Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme aimed at incentivising Kashmiri Pandits to return to the valley. It is to be understood that most of the Kashmiri Pandits who had left Kashmir in early 1990’s have sold out their ancestral properties and to make any plan for repurchasing them would further divide the two communities, putting them at loggerheads and vitiate the atmosphere.
Since the proposed move evoked a strong reaction from various quarters in the valley, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah gave it a new twist. In an interview, he said: “We are encouraging Kashmiri Pandits to return. We are saying you are welcome to consider group housing. Four-five-six of you get together and get a plot of land. Why should we have a problem with a group housing project that blends in with the community in the place you choose to live in? I see no problem with that.” But that also is not a solution. The first and foremost thing is, who will stand guarantee for them? In case the government thinks that they will be guarded by Army or Central Reserve Police Force round the clock, then it does not serve the purpose of bringing them back to their hearth and home.
If at all the government wants their dignified return, then the plan should be to see how they assimilate back into the society and become part of the social milieu they have been longing for. The examples of horrific incidents of Wandhama, Sangrampora and Nadimarg massacres from 1998 to 2003 are still fresh in our memory. Despite their decision to stay back in valley, many Kashmiri Pandits fell victim to the bullets of unknown assassins, though blamed on militants.
Not only are the separatists and even mainstream political parties averse to such a way of their rehabilitation, but Sanjay Tickoo, head of the Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Samiti that represents those Pandits who still live in valley, calls it as another partition. It is worth mentioning that more than 5,000 young Kashmiri Pundits were offered jobs by the government in the last few years. They did return, took up jobs, but lived in strictly guarded hutments. They could not re-establish their links with Muslims. Many of them later managed to leave the area and the jobs especially created in and for Kashmir valley.
The return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley must come after taking all the stakeholders in confidence. Putting them in ghettos without even deliberating on the issue with the representatives of the majority community will not suit their return. Gun-toting security men may provide them security in designated zones, as is evident from the course of statements being made by the government, but the real confidence and sense of security can only come from their erstwhile neighbours.
The Modi government should broaden the scope of this plan. It should seem that the government is impartial and would treat all the sufferings with equality. Return of Kashmiri families who have crossed to the other side of Line of Control due to intense shelling in the early 1990s and of those youth who are stuck across the border and want to return and lead a peaceful life should also be part of such a plan. This will then become ambitious and will attract support from all the stakeholders, creating confidence among communities to build a healthy atmosphere for a return to their roots.
The author is a senior journalist based in Srinagar, and the editor of Rising Kashmir
scrap article 370. Order the army to have ‘encounters’ (after all the pak army doen’t mind doing that to their ‘muslim brothers’ and citizens) with gilani, yasin malik at al. Let any anybody from india buy property and move to kashmir. After all the kashmiris can run business and buy property any where in india.
Mr. SB,
Don’t you understand difference between forced migration & gone for training.
I am amazed by the level of self-serving arguments in this paper. Please let me jog author’s memory, though he is a well known journalist, about things he conveniently forgot:
1. Where was the “majority” community when mosque’s were openly declaring nizame mustafa every friday?
2. Where was the “majority” community when Pandit families were geting stones thrown at their houses, with messages to leave?
3. Where was the “majority” community when thousands of political workers of NC, Congress and Communist party (almost all Muslims) were shot dead by”armed rebels”?
The “majority” community was busy throwing those stones, sending messages and buying the ancestral properties at throw-away prices. Your article is a serious let down, as far as journalist ethics go. Sir, do you want the government to take the permission of the “majority” community for the fulfilling the very basic right of people kicked out of their homes to come back? Can there be any more egregious example of double standards? I expect you to think about it, as you know better than I do about all the issues mentioned.
Shujjat’s article is a explicit example of the thinking that informs the Kashmir Muslim’s actions in regards to Hindu community. So according to him Hindu’s must not get any compensation for the properties that got burned down ; or the one’s they had to sell at distress rates! They must come back and live in the same localities they left . localities where the local mosques had organised the murder and loot squads that were openly calling for rape of Hindu women and murder of the men! localities where the next door Muslim neighbor knew but did not even lift a finger to help! He wants them to go live at their mercy again! And the biggest argument in the article takes the cake. So if at all Hindu’s are settled back then everyone who ever left the valley ( read for Pakistan) must be invited back before Hindu’s are settled. Other wise this settling back will vitiate the atmosphere and create a wedge!
Well.thanks Shujjat for your input. Sadly there is nothing new in this line of thinking. Hindu’s know it and will not go back to the same places. Government’s plans may not be perfect but they are a good beginning and I support it.
Kashmiri Pandits did not leave; they were driven out by the Moslems of Kashmir. Why we can[t ever accept reality, especially when it comes to Moslems?
“It is to be understood that most of the Kashmiri Pandits who had left Kashmir in early 1990’s have sold out their ancestral properties and to make any plan for repurchasing them would further divide the two communities, putting them at loggerheads and vitiate the atmosphere”
Really? No Indian is allowed to purchase property in Kashmir. No Pundit who was forced to sell off his/her property at bargain prices and driven out of their ancestral homeland are allowed to return either?
Shame!
But what about the double standards if they r gonna to face later on.At this time,how can u give assurance to those opressed families,who were subjected to leave forcefully,to those families who were oprresed and to those,who were rejected n dejected out f the valley.I think establishing separate colonies n separate towns will give them the sense of security first and it is the need of an hour.Feelings of kashmiriyat,brotherhood n social integrity can be developed lateron.