Kashmiri Pandits- Who will hear their cries?

Panel sought to probe killing of Kashmiri Pandits
Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 6
“If an inquiry commission can be set up to probe the killing of Muslims in Godhra, why state or Union governments cannot set up such a commission to probe the massacre and exodus of three lakh Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the past 20 years,” said Prof KN Pandit, president of the Jammu Kashmir Nationalistic Movement (JKNM). This shows the government’s discomfiture and unwillingness to hide its own shortcomings in the entire matter, he added.

He demanded an inquiry commission to find out the root cause of the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits on a large scale so that a sincere effort could be made toward their dignified rehabilitation in the valley.

KN Pandit also pointed out that the state was not covered under the jurisdiction of the Minority Commission. Pointing toward the ironical approach adopted by successive state governments, he said, “Late Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah asked for the implementation of Article 370 to protect the rights of the Muslim majority in the state, but no mechanism was evolved to protect the minorities.”

“That is why the Kashmiri Pandits were left high and dry.” It was on the suggestion of KN Pandit, a former head of the department for Central Asian studies, Kashmir University, the UN Human Rights Council amended the definition of “minority” by including regional minorities, which are in majority at the national level. He had been representing human rights issues to the UN in the past.

He also asked for reservation for Kashmir Pandits in Parliament so that they could have representation in the government. He said the government had reserved 20 Parliament seats for PoK residents, who never returned to India, but not a single seat for Kashmiri Pandits.

Talking about the elections, KN Pandit said it was a highly sensitive and worrisome issue that the vote bank of Kashmir Pandits, who make up for seven per cent of the state population, was shrinking fast. “The Election Commission should allow ration cards, which have photo and other details, as ID card for voting.”

See, this is our secularism.
Mulayam Singh, Lalu Yadav, Mamata Banerjee,Nitish Kumar, Sonia Gandhi, Chandrababu Naidu fall head over heels to pamper to the minority vote bank in all their states but fail to care for the minorities in Kashmir.
This is what happens in any Muslim ruled country or Muslim state.
You are observing how the Sikhs are being driven out of their homes in Swat by the Taliban under the Muslim country Pakistan.
So, how can the Kasmiri Pandits expect any different treatment from the only Muslim state in India.
I once again suggest that article 370 should be thrown away.
Kashmir will never integrate into the Indian Union as long as that remains.
Pakistan is illegally sending infiltrators from that country into India.
We should legally send our people to populate that state to change the population ratio so that people from Pakistan are not welcommed with open arms.