Srinagar: The Omar Abdullah government on Sunday announced to take all necessary steps towards bringing the Kashmiri Pandits who left the Valley in early 1990s to escape violence back. It also said that efforts are already afoot to ensure their resettlement and rehabilitation in the Valley.“Everyone without exception in Jammu and Kashmir is pained over their exodus from hearth and home. Our government is working hard to bring them back. Our unceasing efforts will yield results soon,” said deputy chief minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary while addressing a Republic Day function at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium. Earlier this week, Rouble Nagi, a member of the panel of community leaders of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) had, after touring various parts of Kashmir, said that the displaced Kashmiri Brahim Hindus or Pandits can return to the Valley as the local Muslims are not averse to their home coming. She had asserted that it was now for these Kashmiri Pandits to decide on their return to the Valley. “I do not think that today, there is any negative attitude among Kashmiri people (Muslims) to not welcome Kashmiri Pandits. There are a few steps that have been taken for their return and now the choice is theirs. They have to make a choice whether they want to come here or not,” Ms. Nagi, who is also the founder of Rouble Nagi Art Foundation (RNAF), told reporters here. Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric and chairman of his faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had earlier in a Friday sermon delivered at Srinagar’s historic Grand Mosque said that the Valley’s majority (Muslim) community and its leadership want to see an end to the suffering of the Kashmiri Pandit community after their migration. He had said, “This pulpit has always stood for humanity and the rights of all the people of J&K”. While making a passionate appeal to the Pandits to return home and “live with us as before”, the Mirwaiz had said, “I would once again ask them to return to their motherland which awaits them, and live here as they did in the past, in our common and shared heritage. It’s time to reconcile and rebuild the broken bonds. We owe it to our next generation”. A vast majority of Kashmiri Pandits or Brahmin Hindus fled the predominantly Muslim Valley amid the separatist campaign bursting into major violence in 1989-90. Majority of the displaced families took shelter in makeshift or rented accommodations in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country. The displaced families are currently living in various parts of the country and abroad and most of them are settled in life. On January 19 which is observed by the Kashmiri Pandits as ‘exodus day,’ well-known Supreme Court lawyer and community leader Ashok Bhan had in an open letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, appealed for prioritising the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits to their ancestral homeland. “On this day, a carefully drawn-out strategy of ethno-religious cleansing by armed insurgents was executed, forcing the Kashmiri Pandit community into exile. Thirty-five years later, they remain scattered, devastated, and on the verge of extinction”, the letter said, adding “The Kashmiri Pandit community is still waiting for tangible benefits. The promises made in Parliament and at the highest levels of government remain unfulfilled.” Mr. Bhan who also heads Kashmir (Policy & Strategy) had further stated in his letter, “The return of Kashmiri Pandits is essential for promoting peace, stability, and communal harmony in the region. It is also a matter of justice and human rights. I beseech your government to prioritize the reversal of the Kashmiri Pandit exile and take immediate action to address their concerns. It is time to honour the promises made to this illustrious community and ensure their rightful return to their homeland.”
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