Displaced Kashmiri Pandits meet Modi, vent ire against Centre, J-K govt on issue

Stating that a sustained effort was on to "wipe them off the memory" of Kashmir, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits today met Narendra Modi and pledged their support for him to "liberate the nation from the present misrule" which they said had no clear policy for their return.

"Dishonesty of the present central and (J-K) state governments about the return of the entire displaced community is apparent from their callous attitude in not taking any action to ensure a secure and economically-viable restitution," they said in a memorandum to Modi, the BJP prime ministerial candidate.

They charged the central and state governments with having no clear policy for their return to the Valley and said that the PM's Kashmir package contained not a word on the political dimension of any eventual restoration.

The Gujarat Chief Minister has in the past spoken about the plight of the community being forced to live in exile after militancy broke out in the Valley in 1989.

"The whole country has reposed its faith in you to liberate it from the misrule of a corrupt and unfair political dispensation," they said.

Saying that they recognised the nature of the labour required to enable Modi to succeed, the delegation led by KN Pandita said Kashmiri Pandits were putting their services at his disposal.

Noting that a sustained effort was on to wipe them off the civilisational memory of Kashmir, they said that the names of the places of heritage like Shankarcharya Hill and Hari Parbat had been changed "illegally".

"Property, including those belonging to temples and shrines, is being encroached upon, not only by private persons but also by the government itself in the name of public purpose," they said.

Political, social and civil society organisations, which claim to be secular, were in reality maintaining a criminal silence to their plight, they charged.