Srinagar: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims together have a larger role to play than the government for the displaced population’s return to the valley.
“I think there is less of a role for the government and more of our Muslim and Pandit brothers together. We are one, we are not different. I request our Kashmiri Pandit brethren not to look at the past, but look towards the future,” Mehbooba Mufti told reporters in the Anantnag district.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir participated in the ‘Mekhal’ ceremony of the children of a Kashmiri Pandit at their ancestral village in Omooh in the Verinag area of the south Kashmir district.
Pointing to the examples of respected Kashmiri Pandit doctors like U Koul, Shushil Razdan, and Sameer Koul, she said they come to Kashmir to treat patients so that they do not need to go outside the valley.
“When a Kashmiri Muslim sees a Pandit doctor in any part of the country, he embraces him warmly. He (doctor) does not tell the patient that if he is a Kashmiri Muslim, he will not treat him, as he has some complaints with him.
“I think our youngsters, or young Kashmiri Pandit doctors or others, should come here. We should forget the past and look towards the future,” she added.
The PDP president urged the government to improve the facilities for Kashmiri Pandits, including the PM Package employees, living in the valley.
“They are facing difficulties in Jagti in Jammu, but I am happy the way our Pandit brother came here for his son’s function. I feel other Pandit brothers should also come,” she said.
She also advocated building large ‘Sarais’ near major temples in the valley so that Kashmiri Pandits could come and live there with ease.
“Kashmir, the valley of saints, should once again prosper with Kashmiri Pandits,” she said.
