On Board Air India One, Mar 1: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday said the Centre would create an appropriate environment for Kashmiri youths wanting to comeback from Pakistan-administered-Kashmir (PaK).
Interacting with the media on board Air India One, Dr Singh said: “Any misguided young people if they want to come back to the path of rectitude we have to provide them an environment.”
The Prime Minister also said that the government would have to keep an eye on such returnees, so that people with strong violent ideology should not misuse the facility.
“At the same time one also has to recognise that the creation of these facilities also can be misused by strong terrorist ideologically motivated people,” Dr Singh said.
So our task is to find practical ways and means to encourage those misguided people who had a change of heart come back, he added.
Dr Singh also assured that the government would create every facility to enable them (returned youths) to lead a life of dignity and self-respect.
Last month, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had expressed the Centres readiness to facilitate return of all Kashmiri youths who had gone to PaK and wish to come back denouncing militancy and said all of them are welcome.
“Those Indians who had crossed over to PaK and now wish to return to India are certainly welcome,” Chidambaram had said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also made a similar proposal and asked the Centre to formulate a new surrender and rehabilitation policy.
To encourage more militants to return to the state and manage their transition to civilian life, a new surrender and rehabilitation policy of militants is under active consideration of my government, Abdullah had said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 1 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 1 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 2 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST