Interview
Even as PDP-led coalition government is making efforts to bring back Kashmiri Pandits to the Kashmir Valley, who had migrated in the early 90s in the wake of eruption of Pak-sponsored militancy in the Valley, by carving out a safe zone for them, several militant groups have put conditions on their return and have asked them to express their desire to work for their so-called ?azadi?. Prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader and general secretary of All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) Shri Hira Lal Chatta rejects the State government'sformula for the return of Kashmiri Pandit (KP) migrants to the Kashmir Valley by carving out a safe zone for them. In an exclusive interview to Organiser correspondent Khajuria S. Kant, Shri Chatta also pooh-poohs the government claim of positive response from the community to its return formula. Here are some excerpts of the interview:
Why are KP leaders opposing the Mufti government'smove for return of migrants to the Valley?
Kashmir is our motherland. We cannot forget our land. We will ask our children to find and achieve this goal that Kashmiri Pandits should be provided with their share from the State.
But the Revenue Minister in Mufti government recently disclosed that 600 families have applied for the return.
The claim put forth by the Revenue Minister that 600 families have applied for return is totally false and is a nefarious design. And 140 men, who claim for returning to the Valley, are on the pay-roll of PDP. They are getting contracts and agencies throughout the State. They want to oblige their masters and usurp the property of Hindu shrines in connivance with the State government.
What were the circumstances under which Kashmiri Pandits were forced to migrate?
In 1990, Kashmiri Pandits were killed. Mostly intellectuals and highly qualified officers of the State and Central governments and youths were killed and thus forced to leave the Valley. On January 19, 1990, mosques were connected with loud-speakers and loud echoes from the mosques echoed especially during the nights with slogans like Ham kya chahtey hai-azadi ka matlab kya hai: La ilahi-illah-Nizam-i-Mustafa and asi banavo Pakistan, batav Bagair, batniov san. These echoes were followed by mass rallies by Muslims, which included present politicians, ex-judges, members of bar council, Kashmir and Dukhtaran-i-Millat and anti-social elements, to Chrar-i-Sharief where gun-totting militants boarded the buses and marched towards every corner of the Valley. All gathered together and closed down the shops, industrial units, business establishments of Kashmiri Pandits and compelled them to leave the Valley.
Then a horrible thing took place-cutting of throats of Kashmiri Pandit youth. Not even a single ?secular? leader at the helm of affairs raised his voice against this genocide and terrorism. Not a single person came out from ?secularist? camp to wipe the tears of these miserable people.
How do you view the recent Indo-Pak initiatives to resolve the Kashmir issue?
We welcome talks but unfortunately Kashmiri Pandits have not been included in the process. Without Kashmiri Pandits, it is incomplete.
What is the way by which KPs can return to the Valley?
The only way by which we can return to the Valley is a clear-cut policy of the Central government by way of free flow of Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. Provide Kashmiri Pandits a separate place by way of fixation of J&K State into Kashmir, a State carved for Kashmiri Pandits which consists of Hindus, Sikhs, nationalist Muslims and those Hindus who have migrated from Muzaffarabad.
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