Srinagar: Nasir Aslam Wani, the Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Saturday called for the revival of the apex committee to oversee the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
In 2009, the government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, then also headed by Abdullah, constituted the apex committee to oversee and facilitate the return and rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits and monitor the implementation of the rehabilitation measures announced by the Centre.
The body comprised government representatives and members of several Kashmiri Pandit organisations.
Addressing an event organised by Kashmiri Pandits living overseas, Wani said the time has come for the revival of the committee that was disbanded in 2014.
“This conclave is fine, but beyond it, we have to sit together and talk. Some representatives from your side and some from our side will have to talk to each other and find a way (for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits). At the government level, I think there is a need to restore the apex committee,” Wani said.
He said the time has come to restore the committee to evolve a roadmap for a safe and dignified return of the Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland.
“The committee will talk to your community and take decisions,” he said, adding, “We will approach the chief minister as well as the lieutenant governor, and soon reconstitute this committee.”
The advisor to the chief minister said the eruption of militancy in the valley in 1990 impacted not just Kashmiri Pandits, but Muslims as well.
“The storm of 1990 impacted all. It affected both the communities and the resolution will also come together,” he asserted.
Wani acknowledged that it is a reality that there is a section of people who do not want peace.
“They were not with the decision of 1947 (Jammu and Kashmir’s accession with India). But there were people like us also. You cannot make sweeping accusations on everyone. There are people whose hearts used to beat for you then and still do now. This valley of saints is incomplete till Pandits return,” he said.
He said the government has tried at its own level to bring back the Pandits.
“Whether it is the work on rehabilitation, the prime minister’s package, transit camps or temporary accommodation or the apex committee, we tried our best. You cannot paint all of us with the same brush. There was a difference. Yes, mistakes were made by a few people, but attempts were also made to rectify those mistakes. If you got pricked by a thorn, we also felt that pain,” he said.
Wani said a blame game cannot achieve results.
“Whatever attempts we make, whether dialogue or constituting committees, unless our Kashmiri Pandit brothers settle back in the valley, everything is incomplete. We have to work together for that. Much time has passed and we cannot reach a resolution if we continue the blame game even today,” he said.
Centre should withdraw AFSPA from J&K first if revoked anywhere: CM’s advisor
Chief Minister’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani on Saturday said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) should be withdrawn from the Union territory first if the Centre decides to repeal it in any part of the country.
Speaking to reporters at an event here, Wani said the Narendra Modi-led government should consider withdrawing the AFSPA as the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved significantly.
Jammu and Kashmir has been under AFSPA since July 1990, after it was declared a ‘disturbed area’ by the central government, granting the military extraordinary powers to suppress rising militancy and insurgency.
Apart from J&K, AFSPA remains in effect in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
“It is our wish, and we appeal to them that they should first of all revoke it (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir. It also seems that the situation has improved a lot on the ground. So, it will be much better if they start from Jammu and Kashmir,” the CM’s advisor said.
Asked how hopeful the J&K government was about the restoration of statehood against the backdrop of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wani said they trust the central government with its promise.
“We are hopeful, and we also trust their promise. When the election process started, we were told about a three-pronged strategy, first delimitation, then election and then the restoration of statehood,” he said.
Wani said that while the first two processes, the delimitation and election, have taken place, “we are now waiting for the fulfillment of the third promise”.
