New Delhi: Recalling the dreadful images and horrors of the years that followed post the advent of militancy in Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits urged the Central government to 'relocate' them to their native lands with respect and dignity and called for unity amongst the 'Kashmiri Pandits'. Speaking at the programme 'Global Kashmiri Pandit Conclave: Vitasta Calling- Right to Justice' held in New Delhi on Saturday, several Kashmiri Pandits recalled the horrors of the 1990s and said, "This is an exodus and the world and the people need to accept that we were forced and threatened to leave our native lands despite the fact that Kashmir has always been the place of Kashmiri Pandits."
At the event, Bitta Bhat, father of Rahul Bhat, who was assassinated by the militants in central Kashmir's Budgam district last year, spoke of the horrendous that the Kashmiri Pandits had to suffer just because of their "identity". "Rahul was a sensitive man, who was killed by these militants just because of his identity. He was killed inside his office in Budgam. I belong to a family, which had to face the brutalities of these militants twice. The first one was back in 1997 during the Sangram Pura massacre when militants knocked on our house asking for my brothers. Later, they called them outside the house saying they are from the Army and then they shot them mercilessly. It was a small pocket of a village that housed a few of the Pandits families. And the second time, I lost my son."
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"This is genocide and I should say that this ethnic cleansing was and is being done area-wise in order to wipe out the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley", he said. Urging the government, he said that their community should be relocated as soon as possible with "full protection". Kashmiri Pandits on the situation post the abrogation of Article 370 told the reporters that while no one can deny the fact that tourism has boomed and cases of killings and stone pelting have reduced drastically, but only a few of Kashmiri Pandits have returned to their native lands and even few amongst them were brutally killed by the militants last year, in a reference to a spate of targeted killings that shock the Valley last year.
Ashok Bhan, the senior Supreme Court lawyer, addressing the gathering said, "Today is the 33rd anniversary of our loss, deaths, injustice, but we still remained patriots with a hope that justice would be delivered." He also asked why is that "Our government, which has been receiving global applause, and our country has been witnessing a booming economy, is unable to relocate the Kashmiri Pandits." When the Ram mandir could be built with such a will, then why is the government could not help us to return to our native lands, he asked? A few of the panelists also blamed the Abdullahs and the Muftis for their policies and for ruining the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
