Roots In Kashmir (RIK), an initiative launched by the Kashmiri Pandit youth to highlight the atrocities inflicted upon the Kashmiri Pandit (KP) minority community, held protest rallies across India, Oman and USA on the occasion of World Human Rights Day on December 10. The rallies were held in Delhi, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, Muscat and Chicago (USA). The rallies highlighted the human rights violations against KPs. The rally in Delhi was held at Jantar Mantar.
Noted management guru and activist Shri Shiv Khera called KPs? issue a national issue and that the genocide should be reversed. He stressed the need to launch a sustained campaign against the perpetrators of terrorism and crime against nation to force the authorities to bring them to justice. He called the pathetic situation of the state shameful and that it should be of the highest concern to the people of India.
Shri Ajay Bharati, senior team member, handed over a memorandum to various human rights organisations including NHRC, UNHRC, Amnesty International, HRW, etc. The memorandum sought to highlight the human rights violations against the minority Kashmiri Pandit community in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The memorandum drew the attention of human rights organisations to the facts and figures related to Kashmiri Pandit community'smass exodus due to the ethnic cleansing that they had to face in the Valley in the late 80s and early 90s. It also pointed out the abject failure of successive Indian union and state governments in protecting the human rights of Kashmiri Pandit community. ?As far as the Indian government'sinternal policy priorities are concerned, human rights issues of Kashmiri Pandits have not just taken a back seat, but have been locked away in the boot,? said Shri Ajay Bharati.
The memorandum appealed to various human rights bodies to highlight the human rights violations against Kashmiri Pandits.
The RIK has demanded setting-up of a commission to inquire into the causes behind Kashmiri Pandits? ethnic cleansing from the Valley, constituting a rehabilitation committee to look into the financial, economical and political rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, exploration of mechanisms for providing adequate means of subsistence to the relocated persons, and proper compensation to the affected people for the loss of their property and the mental torture they have been subjected to, and setting-up of prosecutorial processes to prosecute all those who have engaged into ethnic cleansing of minority community.
Shri Rashneek Khar said hundreds of temples and shrines have been broken and desecrated in Kashmir. The government is also an accomplice in this process. Shri Aditya Kaul said the human rights organisations and social activists actively, campaigning for the human rights of the people accused of involvement in violent activities, including those who have been convicted by the highest court of the country, have miserably failed in highlighting the human rights violations against the minority community in Kashmir Valley. Shri Pawan Kumar sought to make public the 1986 riots (against Kashmiri Pandits) enquiry report. Shri Sanjay Pandita vehemently sought government intervention in the name-changing spree that is leading to historical distortions in the geographical topography of Kashmir. (FOC)
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