Jammu: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s decisive action against terrorism has restored normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the Kashmiri Pandit legacy is central to Kashmir’s composite culture and the Modi government is committed to addressing the demands of the Community.
“The Modi government has taken decisive and sustained action against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir over the past 11 years, resulting in a significant decline in terror incidents, stone-pelting and targeted killings,” Singh said.
“This reflects strong political will, and marks a clear departure from earlier approaches that lacked firmness in dealing with terrorism,” the Union minister said while addressing a gathering here.
The programme was organised to mark the death anniversary of Pandit Prem Nath Bhat, a noted lawyer and journalist who was killed by terrorists in Kashmir on this day in 1989, before the mass migration of the community from the valley.
Paying tributes to Bhat, the minister said “his sacrifice symbolises the suffering endured by the Kashmiri Pandit community due to terrorism and targeted violence”.
Expressing concern over the continuing dilution of the community’s cultural and linguistic ethos, Singh stressed the need for sustained efforts to preserve the Kashmiri Pandit legacy.
“Preserving the community’s cultural, linguistic and civilizational ethos is essential for sustaining Kashmir’s composite culture, which remains incomplete without the Kashmiri Pandits”, Singh said.
“Terrorism inflicted grave human suffering and severely disrupted the social harmony of Kashmir. For several years, the human rights of victims of terrorism, particularly Kashmiri Pandits, were overlooked due to a selective and inconsistent definition of terrorism,” he said.
This, he said, aggravated the injustice faced by those who were forced to leave their homes and abandon their ancestral roots.
He said the Kashmiri Pandit community has demonstrated extraordinary resilience and an inherent capacity to survive and thrive despite decades of displacement and adversity.
Highlighting Kashmir’s centuries-old composite and pluralistic culture, the minister said Kashmiri Pandits have been an inseparable part of the Valley’s civilizational fabric.
“Their contributions to education, literature, administration and social values provided a stabilising and rational influence that benefitted the entire society,” he said.
“The government is sincere, trustworthy and fully committed to addressing the long-pending demands of the Kashmiri Pandit community,” he said.
He also suggested that the community undertake a structured exercise to compile demands already met by the government, and clearly identify the remaining issues.
“This consolidated representation could then be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration,” he said.
Singh said the government’s approach aims not only at rehabilitation but also at preserving the cultural and social fabric of the Valley, ensuring that the Kashmiri Pandit community’s contributions are recognised and sustained for future generations.
