STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The Kashmiri Pandit Sabha (KPS) Jammu in the meeting of it’s executive committee held under the chairmanship of it’s president K K Khosa deliberated upon the recent political developments in the Union Territory including the establishment of a democratically elected government earlier this week.
The members unanimously expressed their appreciation and satisfaction over the fulfillment of the commitment by the Union Government to hold free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The members extended their congratulations and best wishes to Omar Abdullah for assuming the office of Chief Minister once again and hoped that his government would work in tandem with the Union Government to address the issues of the people of the UT including the long pending issues pertaining to the Kashmiri Pandits. The members expressed their appreciation for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the polls by the Election Commission of India.
They expressed hope that the UT government shall accord highest priority to the issue of return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits back in the Valley with honour dignity and full sense of security.
It is imperative to mention that the recent appeal by Dr Farooq Abdullah regarding the return of Pandits can be turned into reality by the JKNC led government alone, with the wholehearted and benevolent support from the Modi led NDA government in the center.
The members stressed that a robust return and rehabilitation policy should be worked out in consultation with the Kashmiri Pandit community urgently in a time bound period. The Sabha requested that in the meantime some pressing issues like those of hike in the relief amount being paid to the displaced community, a fresh community specific recruitment drive alongside the promised recruitment for the youth of the union territory in general should be prioritized and measures should be taken to safeguard the properties of places of worship especially in view of the recent judgement of the High Court. The Sabha appealed that since the newly elected chief minister is fully aware about the difficulties being faced by Kashmiri Pandit community after it’s uprootment from Kashmir, during the past few decades, their mitigation is of paramount importance to save the community. This can be done only when a congenial environment is created in the valley to revive the syncretic culture which had been existing prior to the year 1990. Those who attended the meeting included Deepak Dhar (Sr. Vice-President), Ashwani Koul (Vice-President), S. L. Bagati (Gen. Secretary), B. L. Tiku, Rajinder Tiku, Dr. Usha Tickoo, Asha Kitchloo, B. L. Rawal, Prof. R. K. Ganjoo, V. K. Bakshi, V. K. Mukhi, Satish Khoda and Bharat Bushan Gosaini.