Kashmiri Pandits accuse Centre

May 28, 2006

SRINAGAR, May 27. � The displaced Kashmiri Pandit community, which has been included in the talks on Kashmir for the first time, has expressed anguish that while the Centre is implementing several confidence-building measures for militants and anti-national elements, nothing has been done for the rehabilitation of the minority community. The Kashmiri Pandit community is into its 16th year of exodus from valley.

Dr Agnishekhar, convener, Panun Kashmir, who represented the Kashmiri Pandit community at the second Round Table Conference on Kashmir here at SKICC, told The Statesman that he had asked Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for a special recruitment drive for Kashmiri Pandit youths until a solution is found to end their plight.
�We asked for a comprehensive economic package for the displaced community until some political solution is arrived at,� said Dr Agnishekhar, adding that he also invited the chief minister of J&K to visit all the Kashmiri Pandit camps, particularly the Battal Balia camp of Udhampur. He said that the camp should immediately be shifted to a safer place in Jammu.

Dr Agnishekhar said the recent Doda massacre should be an eye opener for the Government of India, as it reveals the militants' big game plan to �cleanse� the so-called greater Kashmir across the river Chinab of Hindu minorities, going by Pakistan's �Operation Topac�.

�The massacres and violence that have taken place between the first and second Round Table Conferences vindicates our claim that the situation in Kashmir will never be conducive, particularly to the Kashmiri Pandits and so, the carving out of a separate area for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits with full constitutional guarantees is the only solution for their settlement and return to the Valley,� he said.
He added that the comprehensive, compact rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits in a secure location in the Valley, with full institutional and constitutional guarantees, was not possible under present conditions. Rejecting the proposals of self-rule and demilitarisation of the PDP, the Panun Kashmir convener called these �steps to boost the Musharraf doctrine� and appealed to the Prime Minister that priority be given to de-terrorisation ~ instead of to demilitarisation.

Dr Agnishekhar hailed the statement of Dr Farooq Abdullah that the Government of India should not hold talks separately with the Hurriyat and other separatist groups. He said the Centre should send a clear message to the Hurriyat and their masters that they would go ahead �with or without them.�