Interacting with a group of representatives of the Kashmiri Pandits (KPs), senior Congress leader Ashok Bhan on Wednesday said J&K administration has trivialized the suffering of the community and their right to return home.
In a statement, Bhan said Kashmiri Pandit community was appalled at the repeated TV interviews of Lt Governor expressing views that the “employment package and under construction accommodations for the employees was the end of suffering for the community.” “We appreciate your passion to set right the mess but the problem of the entire population of a religious minority may require deeper study to arrive at correct perspective for its redressal,” Bhan said.
He said the five lakh population of the KPs was longing to return home. “For return, rehabilitation and political empowerment of this community there is a need for planned and structured policy with the comprehensive consultations with representatives at the PMO, Home Ministry and LG level,” Bhan said.
He urged the LG to hold consultations and also persuade the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to help in initiation of the consultations process as a priority. “You (the LG) are known to be a seasoned politician and by now it is expected you have understood the complex political challenges in Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore it is at least expected of you to help create and facilitate a democratic political space for moderate political narrative to flourish in highly surcharged polarized Jammu and Kashmir,” Bhan said.
He said to facilitate the return of the KPs, adequate security ecosystem and dialogue to structure the terms were the essential democratic priority.