Kashmiri Pandits: Refugees in their own country

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits have filed a petition before the Supreme Court asking for their rehabilitation. Reportedly, the apex court has issued notices to the Union and the Jammu & Kashmir Governments. It is ironical that the request for rehabilitation comes from those who are the victims of ethnic cleansing in their own place of origin. Are they convinced that conditions in the Valley are conducive for their return and rehabilitation? Actually return and rehabilitation of the Pandits has never been that simple.

Rehabilitation of Pandits should start with their return. The issue of rehabilitation will arise thereafter. Their return is closely linked to the ground situation in the Valley. Since the situation continues to be insecure owing to escalation of terrorist activities as stated by Home Minister Shivraj Patil in Parliament recently, who will guarantee the security of 3,00,000 Pandits returning to the Valley?

Retracing the history of early 1990, it is an established fact that the Pandit exodus was the result of ethnic cleansing by terrorist outfits operating in the Valley. Therefore, their return after a lapse of 16 years carries the prerequisite of setting up a commission of inquiry into the rise of jihadi fundamentalism in Jammu & Kashmir.

Pandits are convinced that a few local political groups were party to their persecution. But since they did not constitute a vote-bank for any political party, nobody was prepared to take up the blatant violation of their human rights. Even the National Human Rights Commission showed scant regard for what had befell them. Therefore, while addressing the issue, the Supreme Court must delve into all aspects of their ethnic cleansing and exodus. Successive Governments in the State have always taken up the issue of rehabilitation of Pandits without much sincerity.

Pandits have been seriously considering their return and subsequent rehabilitation. Through a consensus of opinion way back in 1990, reiterated so often, Pandits, organised Panun Kashmir, demanded a Pandit homeland in the Valley as the only viable formula of their rehabilitation. This was conveyed to the quarters concerned that showed only their reluctance to discuss the suggestion.

Not only that, those opposed to the idea even began accusing Pandits of dividing the State and working against national interests. What is more, during the past decade-and-a-half, the Central authorities always offered unconditional talks to Kashmiri separatists but Pandits were never invited in these deliberations.

Pandits are clear on their demand. They neither want the division of the country nor are they acting against the interests of the nation. Panun Kashmir’s demand for a homeland is practical reinforcement of the secularist ideology of the Indian state. It is also the fulfilment of the basic tenets of the Constitution. It is recognising the identity of a "reverse minority", as has been clearly set forth in the reports of the Working Groups on Minorities at the UNHRC. It is empowering a "reverse minority" with constitutional rights to be an equal partner in decision-making and decision-implementing processes.

The Pandit homeland is to strengthen communal harmony and peaceful co-existence among various identities in Jammu & Kashmir. The part of the demand that the homeland be declared a centrally administered region testifies to the community’s sincerity about secularism and national cohesion. The policy of regional autonomy must take into account the interests of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identities, particularly when these are under threat.

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