Jammu: National Conference-led government wants all Kashmiri migrants, including Pandits, back in their homes in the valley, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said on Tuesday, adding that efforts are on, in collaboration with the Centre, in this direction.
Replying to a question by CPI(M) legislator M Y Tarigami and subsequent supplementary questions by various members in the Assembly here, Choudhary said he, being a member of a family which was a victim of partition in 1947, fully understands the pain of migration. He assured the House that the government would do whatever is best for the displaced population.
“There is pain in the heart of (NC president) Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and people of J&K for Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the valley in the 1990s. Tarigami’s concern is the concern of all of us.
“National Conference, whenever in power, started steps for their honourable return while the central government also announced packages for their rehabilitation from time to time. The NC government wants them back in their homes respectfully with proper security arrangements and our efforts, in collaboration with central government, are on in this regard,” the deputy chief minister said.
Speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is minister in-charge of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction department, Choudhary said the government would ensure rehabilitation of migrants belonging to other communities as well.
“Such thing (migration of Kashmiri Pandits) should not have happened in the first place, but it happened and efforts were made to provide them relief… I want the government to keep their return and rehabilitation on their agenda,” the CPI(M) leader said.
He, however, demanded inclusion of non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the employment package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the community and questioned why they have been deprived of such an opportunity when they also had to leave their homes in the villages and settle in Srinagar.
“There are also nearly 1300 political workers belonging to other communities who also migrated to Jammu but their monthly relief was stopped two years back. A committee was formed in 2024 and this issue needs to be looked into,” he said, questioning the alleged double standards while providing relief to migrants.
NC’s Showkat Hussain Ganai invited the attention of the government towards the plight of a Kashmiri Pandit family which migrated from the Zainapora constituency in 2023-24 after a terror attack that left one person dead and another injured who, he said, also died six months later.
“They were provided accommodation (in Jammu after the attack) but are being deprived of other benefits provided to Kashmiri Pandit migrants. I met the relief commissioner and pleaded their case but was told that it cannot be done as there is a ban on it. This should be looked into,” he said.
NC’s Bashir Ahmad Veeri, Altaf Kaloo, Saifullah Mir and Justice Hasnain Masoodi also pleaded for compassionate review of the cases of migrants belonging to other communities whose relief has been stopped, while BJP’s Narinder Singh Raina and Balwant Singh Mankotia extended benefits to other migrants, including Kashmiri Sikhs and the residents of Talwara in Reasi.
