Author: PTI
Publication: Daily Excelsior
Date: November 4, 2003
URL: http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/03nov04/news.htm#8
The National Commission for Minorities'
initiative for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley suffered a
setback today with the community leaders objecting to a "condition" reportedly
put by Hurriyat leader Yaseen Malik that they remain "neutral in the ongoing
(separatist) struggle".
The Pandit leaders raised a question
mark on the initiative itself under which an NCM-backed committee of Indian
Muslim leaders visited Jammu and Kashmir last month and interacted with
migrants, separatists and Muslim leaders besides Government functionaries
to "create a conducive atmosphere for return" of the community to the Valley.
"We cannot even think of returning
if we are asked to give up our right to expression," Kashmiri Pandit Conference
president H N Jattu said reacting to Malik's "advice" conveyed to the committee
that Pandits after return "should remain neutral in the ongoing struggle,
and lead a normal, peaceful life without involving themselves on either
side."
"This advice amounts to asking us
to live the life of second class citizens and do whatever they ask us to,"
he said after attending a meeting of the members of NCM and the committee
along representatives of other K P Groups.
He said Kashmiri Pandits would go
back at their own terms and without any conditions being put by anyone,
including the Government and the separatists.
Jattu said in the given circumstances,
the Pandits would rethink about associating with the committee.
All India Kashmiri Samaj president
M K Kaw, who led the Pandit delegation at the meeting, said they differed
with the assessment presented by the Muslim Committee about the ground
realities in the Valley.
"They are more hopeful but we feel
it is not the appropriate time for return and more work needs to be done,"
he said.
Panun Kashmir spokesman Ramesh Manvatti
said the community members, irrespective of the sops offered, cannot return
till due guarantees are given about their rights.
NCM chairman Tarlochan Singh, meanwhile,
said the entire separatist leadership wanted Kashmiri Pandits to return
"with honour and safety".
"We also feel that the ground realities
are not good. Guns are still booming. But we are trying to create an atmosphere
where people of the Valley feel that migration of Kashmiri Pandits was
wrong and they should return," he said.
Emphasising that the effort had
to be supported by the State Government and the Centre, Singh said as a
follow up of the Jammu and Kashmir visit of the Muslim committee, the ncm
would organise meetings of Kashmiri Pandits with Deputy Prime Minister
L K Advani and State Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed next month.
A large conclave of leaders of all
sections of Kashmir and the Pandits will also be organised in Jammu to
create an atmosphere of harmony, he said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary
Moosa Raza, who led the Muslim delegation to the State, said through the
"goodwill visit" an effort was being made to convert a conducive atmosphere
into practicality.
He said the living conditions in
migrant camps in Jammu were pathetic and most of the inhabitants wanted
to return if proper facilities were provided.
He said secure clusters of two-room
houses were being built in the Valley as the State Government had expressed
its inability to protect them if scattered.
While Pandits regretted that its
youth were not being given employment, Raza said the State Government had
prepared a package which included a provision for jobs.
Terming the visit of the committee
as a "good beginning", the NCM chairman said its main achievement was a
message to the majority Muslim community of the Valley as to what they
had done to the Pandits.
