KPs are ignored yet again

 

Some time back Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the State of Jammu & Kashmir for laying foundation stones and inaugurating various prestigious developmental projects spread over the three regions of the State, viz, Ladkh, Kashmir valley and the Jammu province along with attending in some other prestigious academic functions, is one the most plausible and credible steps for the development of the State Amongst all of these developmental projects, the unveiling of a plaque to mark the commencement of work on the Zojila Tunnel, connecting Ladakh with the rest of the country for the full 12 months of the year and dedicating the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower Station to the Nation, are the landmark achievements. With the coming up of all such projects, which include other projects too, like Srinagar Ring Road, the Pakal Duo Power Project, the Jammu Ring Road, the Tarakote Marg and Material Ropeway of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, it shows that a balanced development of all the three regions of the State has been ensured on equitable basis which was ignored by the previous governments. It is an extraordinary welcome step for the development of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, for which the Kashmiri Pandits living in exile are, equally, praising the Prime Minister.

But to the dismay of the displaced Kashmir Pandits, Sh. Modi, while delivering scintillating speeches on all such historic events, covering all the strategic issues and matters concerning the State, yet, again, forgot to mention a single word about the Kashmiri Pandits and their rehabilitation back in the valley. Yes, why should he? Kashmini Pandits, as today, are not having any feather in their caps as a vote bank entity in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, or anywhere in the country where they are scattered and spread as refugees in their own country. Such visits of our respected Prime Minister to J&K state is a prospective and a positive sign for the developmental prospectus of the State, but had the issues related to the exiled Kashmiri Pandit migrants languishing in various camps and non camps in Jammu, or scattered all over the country for the last over 28 years as refugees if the Prime Minister had addressed their cause also, on such occasions, a feeling of satisfaction and security would have been felt by Kashmiri Pandits that their problems and hardships, which they are facing because of their forced displacement and exodus, are still prime in the minds of the rulers in Delhi KPs have been pining high hopes in the Modi government to address the burning issues pertaining to the KP migrant community for the last three decades, but by giving damn to all such issues have shattered all the hopes of the Kashmiri Pandits Yes, conclusions are logical in this regard if it is concluded that Kashmiri Pandit votes hardly make any difference for them.

Many people were expecting this time that Sh Modi would say something, if not bestow something as a relief measure for the exiled Kashmiri Pundits as well, as their ordeals have reached a very sad state of affairs now but to their surprise, he did not speak a single word fo them during his two day-visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Central Government had, in 2008-09, sanctioned a package of Rs 1,618.40 crores for the rehabilitation of the migrant Kashmin Pandits. According to the package, each migrant family was to be provided Rs 7.5 lakhs for constructing a house. It also envisaged setting up of transit accommodation for the migrant Pandits in the Valley and one-time grant for revival of agriculture and horticulture land of the migrants. The J&K Legislative Assembly, unanimously, passed a resolution for creating a conducive atmosphere for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley.

The PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir had identified 723 kanals of land in Kashmir fo setting up 6,000 transit accommodations for migra Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to flee from the Val after the eruption of militancy in 1989. The Government of India conveyed approval for construction of 6,000 transit accommodations in Kashmir for allotment to the migrant Kashmiri Pandits. What has happened to all these rehabilitation proposals and packages? Probably the government of the day will cite the township of Jagt as an example of this rehabilitation process. But the government should know that Jagti Township is only a transitory camp for the migrants, thereby providing to the migrants a better facility of living as compared to their living in camps. This is no rehabilitation with dignity and honour.

The present NDA-Government, at the central level, repeatedly maintained that the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits is the topmost priority for the government, but all such promises were false and hoax Nothing happened on ground till date in this regard. The quantum of pain in such a joke with our community, at this juncture, is that not a single word of sympathy was uttered by the authorities concerned in this regard.

The tone and tenor of my article is not to make comments against our Prime Minister, whom we hold in the highest esteem, and continue to do so, or any political party party in power, but to portray how Kashmiri Pandits get always ignored because of the vote bank politics and compulsions of various political alliances to appease the majority community of the valley Kashmiri Pandits have faced much more sufferance at the hands of the erstwhile governments for decades.

In his visit to the State, Sh. Modi, while laying the foundation stones or while inaugurating various developmental projects in the state, said that an amount of about Rs 25,000 crores is involved in all such projects and the entire cost of these projects will mostly be borne by the GOI Similarly, on an earlier occasion, a package of Rs 80 000 crores was sanctioned. immediately after the devastating floods in Kashmir, for the development of Jammu & Kashmir by Sh. Modi Addressing a public rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Srinagar, the Prime Minister said the package would change the destiny of the people of the state. He referred to the package as just a beginning and said that people of the state should understand that there would be free flow of funds to Jammu & Kashmir in future as well. He said in this public meeting that the return to the Valley of Kashmir Pandits, with dignity, is, also, an issue. What did the displaced Kashmiri Pandits get out of these financial packages? Probably nothing What happened to the return of the Kashmin Pandits to the valley with dignity? Unfortunate to say that these promises have proved to be false promises during the four-year rule of the present NDA government for the Kashmiri Pandits, the reasons being that Kashmiri Pandits are not a vote bank entity for any of the political party.

In fact, a Kashmir Pandit is a burden (wolf boar) for the ruling dispensation of the present government of Jammu & Kashmir, which never wants that Kashmin Pandits should return to their homeland, an informer (mukhbir) for the religious fanatics of Kashmir, an eye sore (teul) for the main opposition parties of Kashmir, because of their vote bank politics, a soft target (kath) for the terrorists of Kashmir and above all a 'trump card' (Bata-Bichore) for other political parties, to be used at the time of elections. This is the unfortunate situation about the displaced Kashmir Pandits in this scenario of their displacement and agony.

Our hopes of having our homeland and going to the valley with dignity are almost shattered and belied now. We have no major means like a political platform, or a big social forum with enough of finances to fight back and get our due. We probably lack unity too, which can be the other major cause for us, for not getting our genuine demands fulfilled. We are not able to project ourselves in an organised manner and thus every relevant power centre, be it the government of India or the state government, has been taking us casually.

Under the circumstances we shall have to put a unified face and struggle and tell the concerned authorities that enough is enough with us. But who will bell the cat. Yes, it is a big question, the time to act and act boldly and We organise cultural functions like Devotional songs, Geet, conjointly. It has not to be a political Ghazals and face, which can be misused, when the real issues will get sidelined. It has to be purely a socio-economic cause with a causative reference to our rights as humans. It is certainly a moment of deep introspection for all of us. It is a struggle against the Pan- Islamic fundamentalism, which has taken roots in Kashmir and the worst sufferer of this Jihadi cult is the Kashmiri Pandit. It appears that there is nobody on our side to come to our rescue.

Let us break all the shackles of deficiencies in ourselves, if at all we have one, and unite to fight it back and tell our adversaries that you shall have to give us our due which we have lost in our paradise of Kashmir May be, it takes many years but we shall have to do it for posterity as otherwise, posterity will not forgive us. But due care is to be taken that such a struggle is only on the socio-economic front and not on any political front or base Nor, is it to be allowed to get high jacked by vested interests for political purposes.

DISCLAIMER: 

The views expressed in the Article above are Er. P.L. Khushu  personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

Courtesy:-  Er. P.L. Khushu  and Koshur Samachar 2018, October