News Analysis India

Tag: Pandits

  • Amid targeted killings, 70 per cent Kashmiri Pandit employees flee Valley

    Express News Service

    SRINAGAR:  Though the Centre has started shifting Kashmiri Pandit staffers under the PM job scheme in the Valley to various district headquarters in Kashmir in the wake of the recent targeted killings, it has now emerged that about 60-70% of them fled to Jammu in recent weeks. The Pandits wanted transfers to Jammu but the Centre rejected the demand.

    Some Pandits say the security situation is worse today than it was in 1990.“This fear was not prevalent in 1990 when the first migration of Pandits took place,” said Ranjan, a Kashmiri Pandit employee in Anantnag district. “Due to fear, we are unable to move out from our locations.” He said in the 1990s, it was clear who the terrorists were.

    But today, the situation has changed due to hybrid terrorists—radicalised civilians who carry out attacks while leading normal lives. He claimed about 60-70% of 5,500 Pandits have left Kashmir.  Jagti Tenement Committee Jammu president Shadi Lal confirmed 60-70% of Pandit employees have reached Jammu.

  • Pandits rebuild homes in Valley, return to roots 

    Express News Service

    MATTAN(ANANTNAG) : Even as a debate is raging across the country over the exodus of Hindus from Kashmir following eruption of militancy in the late Eighties, about half-a-dozen Kashmiri Pandit families are constructing houses in a village in Mattan in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, to permanently shift there.

    Following a considerable improvement in the ground situation in Kashmir, these families are keen to return to their roots in the Valley. Pandit Kakaji, who is building a two-storey house for himself and his brother’s family, told this newspaper that the construction work started in 2016.  He currently lives in a rented accommodation nearby to oversee the work. 

    “I expect the construction will be completed this year and we intend to shift to the house in 2022 only,” he said. Asked if he feels any threat living in Kashmir, Kakaji said, “I don’t feel any threat. We have total communal harmony in the village.” Anantnag has been a hotbed of militancy in Kashmir.

    The village, according to the locals, had about 80 Pandit families before the eruption of militancy and most of them migrated after 1990. Kakaji said many Pandit families have built their houses in the village and are living there. Their Kashmiri Muslim neighbours, who had been taking care of their properties, are helping the Pandits reconstruct their houses by making all arrangements for them. The construction work is also being done by the Muslims.

    Abdul Aziz, an elderly villager, said the return of Pandits was a welcome sign. “We are happy that they are returning to their roots. The Pandits are part of Kashmiriyat and they should return and live with their Muslim brethren as they used to, before 1990s,” he said.

    Ashok Kumar, president, Martand Temple Trust, Mattan said about half-a-dozen Pandit families started construction of their houses last year. “Many Pandit families have also renovated their houses as they intend to come back,” he said, adding that the local Muslims are wholeheartedly welcoming the return of the Pandits.

    Kumar said the situation in Kashmir has changed very much from the 1990s and is conducive for the return of migrant Pandits. The government should take initiative and construct houses for 6,000 Kashmiri Pandits, who have to be provided jobs under the PM’s job package. “6,000 jobs means as many families and at least 24,000 individuals. If the government provides quarter to everyone, it will have a positive impact on the ground. It will lead to greater interaction between the Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims,” Kumar said.