Kashmir’s Lal Chowk
A new change is brewing in the atmosphere of Kashmir. This change seems to give hope to Kashmiri Pandits of returning home. For the first time since the 1990s, Kashmiri Pandits themselves are being seen to have taken the lead in rehabilitation in Kashmir. Kashmiri Muslims welcomed this initiative of Kashmiri Pandits and said that the situation has changed. We also want Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims to live together like in the 1990s.
Registration of a housing society in Srinagar
Kashmir Displaced Residents Cooperative Housing Society in Srinagar has been registered in the Registry of Cooperative Societies of Jammu and Kashmir. A group of displaced Pandits have registered a housing society in Srinagar to apply for land at nominal rates from the government for their permanent residence in the valley. This society includes 11 Kashmiri Pandits and two Sikhs. All of them had fled Kashmir in 1990 due to terrorism.
Voluntarily return to Kashmir
The society members said that they have 500 families with them, who have voluntarily expressed their desire to return to Kashmir. If the government provides them land according to their criteria. In this regard, three members of the society met Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in Delhi. He promised to set up a panel to assess residential societies located in Srinagar so that Kashmiri Pandits settle permanently in the valley.
It will restore our identity and our culture.
Satish Maldar, secretary of cooperative housing society for displaced people, said, ‘We have all voluntarily decided to register a cooperative group housing society. We registered it and made a roadmap for the people who come there to come to their homeland and reestablish our identity, our culture. It’s not about home, it’s about identity. We met Home Minister Nityanand ji and proposed to give him grants for land and house construction. The Minister listened to us and thanked us for the initiative and we will assure him of all possible help.
The issue of rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits remained burning in the elections.
Satish Mahaldar, secretary of the Cooperative Housing Society for Displaced People, said: “No one has taken any steps to protect this small community. You must have seen in the recent elections that whether regional or national political parties, all had written in their hearts that they would take steps for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. We also took many measures in the past, but they also failed and all other promises failed. Now the question is who has sold their homes or who has been forced to leave. Where will they go? So we took the initiative to shape it and bring them together under one flag so that we can return to our homes. This is a golden opportunity.
Living among Muslims is the true homecoming.
Speaking to India TV, Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir consider returning home as an important step. They believe that living among Muslims like before 1990 is the true return home. He said many Kashmiri Pandits have also started returning to their homes. They hope to be in their homeland soon, since every displaced person wants to return to their roots. The situation is very good, will people forget what happened in the 90s? People come here. Tourists come. Our children work in good packs, work in remote areas and teach Kashmiri Muslim children. It doesn’t matter if people forget about the ’90s. This kind of normality will return.’
A Kashmiri Pandit said, “No one wants to live outside their home, everyone wants to come home and die there.” All Pandits want to come to Kashmir, those who are outside Jammu. They also want to return. We want to live with our brothers, this is our opinion.
Kashmiriyat will come alive
Welcoming this initiative of Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri Muslims said that this is a good step. Kashmiri Pandits want to live here along with common people like in 1990. This will give life to Kashmir. The ulama civil society already demanded it here. This will end the acidity in relationships. The central government and state government should also take the lead in this regard.
Jobs for Kashmiri Pandits in the valley
Earlier, the central government created 6,000 jobs for Pandits in the valley to facilitate their return under the Prime Minister’s Development Package of 2015 and the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan of 2008, of which 5,724 were Kashmiris. . Expatriates have been named. In addition, transit shelters have been constructed for 6,000 people and their families in north, central and south Kashmir. Many more houses are being built for those employees. The initiative is seen as a way to integrate Kashmiri Pandit migrants with the Muslim population instead of making them live in isolated settlements.
