Policy for return of Pandits being formulated: Governor

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 19

Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday said a policy for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits was being formulated. There are reports that separate colonies are being set up for their rehabilitation in various districts of the Valley.

The Governor told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre here on Friday that further details in this regard would come soon.

After the migration of Pandits following the eruption of militancy in Kashmir in the early 1990s, their return and rehabilitation have been taken up at various levels. The government has already set up migrant colonies at Sheikhpora in Budgam near Srinagar and Anantnag and Kupwara districts for lodging Pandit employees.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits, led by Satish Mahaldar, which met Union Minister of State for Home G Kishen Reddy on Thursday, has been assured that the government was “taking concrete steps to help them return to the Kashmir valley”.

The Union Minister, according to a statement of the Pandit delegation, said the government was committed to the “return and rehabilitation of the community and that it is soon going to take steps in this direction” in a safe and secure environment.

The delegation apprised the minister and his team of officials, led by the Joint Secretary, J&K division, of the meetings that it was having with religious and mainstream leaders in the Valley.

The delegation told the minister that there was a general view in the Valley that the Pandits should return to their homeland.

“In a significant step, Mirwaiz of Kashmir Moulvi Umar Farooq has shown readiness to help the Pandits to return to the Valley,” the delegation said.

The minister was informed that 419 Pandit families had shown the willingness to return to the Valley. The minister has promised the delegation that steps would soon be taken to help them return and rehabilitate in the Valley. He has also promised the delegation that proper security arrangements would be put in place for them.

The delegation demanded that clusters be created in Anantnag, Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla, Sopore and Ganderbal districts in Kashmir to accommodate Kashmiri Pandits.