Omar favours Nepal route for returning ultras

The Jammu and Kashmir government is in consultation with the Centre to recognise Nepal as an approved route for militants who want to shun violence and return to the Valley from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) under the rehabilitation policy.

In a letter, a copy of which is with Deccan Herald, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah informed CPM legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami that his government has taken up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is being pursued vigorously.

Tarigami had shot a letter to Omar on May 9 regarding self-immolation by one Saira Bano, a resident of PoK, and sought his reply into the incident.

Saira was born to a rich Rajput family that owned several jewellery shops in Muzaffarabad. But once she crossed over to the Indian side, even feeding her three children was a daily struggle.

Self-immolation seemed the only way out for the 30-year-old Saira. She died on April 14 at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar.

Less than two years ago, her husband Abdul Majeed Lone, 37, a former militant, returned from Pakistan so that they could avail benefits promised under the Jammu and Kashmir’s rehabilitation policy.

“I share deep pain and concern at the tragic death of Saira Bano who was married to Abdul Majeed Lone, resident of Naidkhai. Lone had crossed over to PoK in July 1993 and returned to the state along with his wife and three children (all below 10 years of age) via Nepal in June 2012,” Omar responded to Tarigami.