Kashmir needs Pandits: Akhter

Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 20 

The Legislative Council today passed the resolution for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley after it was passed by the Assembly on Thursday. 

Minister for Education and senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Naeem Akhter, while favouring the resolution for the return of Pandits, said it would be a great step towards restoring the composite culture of Kashmir. He welcomed back Pandits to their home and hearth in a dignified and respectable manner.

Akhter, while speaking in the Upper House over the motion moved by National Conference MLC Bashir Veeri, said there had been long-drawn debates over the situation in the Valley which unfortunately had led to misconceptions and erosion of the composite culture.

“The Valley had witnessed the death of culture and now it is our responsibility to give it a fillip by opening our arms, door and windows to our brethren who have suffered an unfortunate migration,” the minister said.

He said Kashmir was incomplete without Pandits, adding that “Kashmir needs Pandits. There is a socio-cultural imbalance in Kashmir due to the absence of Pandits.”

He also said Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits needed to talk to each other to restore the multicultural fabric of Kashmir.

Former CM and working president of the NC Omar Abdullah had proposed that the Lower House pass a resolution “to work for creating a conducive atmosphere for the return of Kashmiri Pandits and other migrants.”

Today, NC MLC Veeri proposed the motion and Council Chairman Haji Inayat Ali kept the motion for consideration. Later, the Chairman put the resolution to voice vote and the members passed it unanimously.