BJP-PDP plan to bring back the Kashmiri Pandits

The PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir has stirred up controversy by announcing its plan to bring back the Kashmiri Pandits, the Hindu community that left the state two and a half decades ago.


The new government has proposed plans to rehabilitate the Pandits by building composite townships for them in the Kashmir Valley and was mentioned in their common minimum program (CMP). Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed told Home Minister Rajnath Singh that the state government would acquire land for the purpose at the earliest and provide the community a safe and an inclusive environment.

"The Pandit families, who come to about 62, 000, had moved from the Valley to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country in the wake of militancy more than two decades back and not because of the fear of the Muslim community. No community has ever wanted the Pandits to not return to the state or degrade them as secondary citizens. Diving and rehabilitating the people along religious and communal lines, would only lead to the circumstances akin to Hitler’s Germany.

MHA has asked the J & K government to provide land in the State to establish composite townships for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. CM of Jammu & Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has assured the Union Home Minister that the state government will acquire and provide land at the earliest for the purpose in the Valley. Though it's a ticklish issue but if it materializes it will be a big relief to Pandits.