The Central government’s motto of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka
Vishwas” had given the beleaguered community of Kashmiri Pandits a hope of
being able to return to Kashmir and given all that they have been bereft of
– economic upliftment, educational and constitutional guarantees.
The first victim of terrorism in Kashmir, the miniscule minority of
Kashmiri Pandits has been suffering for the past 30 years in exile. Many
promises have been made to us in all these 30 years. Our case has become a
part of the electoral strategy for some and we are also the highlighted
victim case of Pakistan’s terror strategy on the international fronts. But
the community till date has not seen a concrete policy that talks about our
economic upliftment, educational and constitutional guarantees and our
return to the valley.
Even this year’s budget – J&K Budget, 2020 does not have anything for our
Physical & Economic rehabilitation, relief and welfare. We feel that we
have been betrayed. Our constitutional and fundamental rights have not been
ensured and protected.
We have written to the Honourable Prime Minister about our apprehensions
with regards to this. We have high hopes that our concerns will be
addressed.
We would like to draw you attention to few issues as specified here:
1) In the budget, during the current financial year, Rs 1,705 crore has
been disbursed through DBT to 45 lakh beneficiaries. 60,000 new pension
cases shall be covered through Direct Benefit Transfer.
*But, till date not a single Kashmiri Pandit has got any benefit under this
Scheme*.
2) J&K has a rich source of cultural heritage sites and Rs 100 crore has
been earmarked in 2020 budget for preservation of cultural heritages. Union
Minister of State Kishen Reddy had earlier said that Rs 5,000 crores would
be spent towards the restoration of temples. In Kashmir, there are
more than 1,387 temples and heritage sites which are more than 3,000 years
old.
*But, there is no mention of any temple being restored. Most of the Temples
are appox. 5000 years old and as referred in the Rajtrangani , the oldest
recorded history book on Kashmir. Till Date no list of the temples has been
published which are going to be restored as per the priority in the current
financial year .*
3) The Union Finance Minister has proposed the introduction of following
three religious circuits: Shankaracharya – Mata Khir Bhawani –
Martand (Mattan)
*Why not Hari Parbat? Mata Chakreshwari is the creator of Kashmir
land, which is more than 5,200 years old and has reference in Rajtrangani .*
* Why not the Shiv temple of Baramulla which also has a mention in the
Rajtrangani, Sharda temple of Kupwara , and Jawala ji temple in Khrew
. These four temple sites should also be inducted in the current tourism
circuit with immediate effect.*
4) It is proposed by the GOI to generate 350 lakh days of wage employment
under MGNREGA.
*But, under this scheme not a single Kashmiri Pandit has been enrolled and
none benefitted till date. *
*Why Kashmiri Pandits have not been included in such schemes? They should
be included under this scheme immediately.*
5). Animal and sheep husbandry is being accorded special focus and the
Minister said that the government intends to create 45,000 self-employment
jobs in dairy, poultry, sheep husbandry and fisheries sectors.
*But, why Kashmir Pandits are not included in this scheme. They too should
be included in this scheme*
6). The Government expects the participation of more than 15 lakh youth
in different indoor and outdoor games in the year 2020-21.
*Till date not a single Kashmiri Pandit youth has been included in any
sports quota /activity. We expect 50 Kashmiri Pandit students to be
included in these games in current budget /financial year.*
7). For School and Higher Education Sector an allocation of Rs 2,392
crore has been made for the year 2020-21 which is Rs 1,000 crore more than
the previous years’ budget allocation.
*No reservation has been granted to the Kashmiri Pandits (migrants) in the
professional colleges of J&K since last 30 years. *
*No attempts have been made to uplift refugees from the state they have
been deliberately pushed into. In fact, it seems that attempts are being
deliberately made to keep the Kashmiri Pandit migrants away from such
benefits.*
* We want 20 % seats quota should be reserved for Kashmiri Pandits migrants
in all professional colleges of J&K. *
*There should be age and qualification relaxation for Kashmiri Pandits
under PM employment package scheme or otherwise. We seek special quota in
jobs too under as SC/ST or a similar category so that the victims of
terrorism are uplifted & justice is given.*
8) The GOI has proposed the promotion of Industries is one of the focus
areas of the Government and 14 key sectors have been identified for
attracting investment, including Tourism and Hospitality, Agriculture and
Silk Production, and Medicinal Plants, Health and Pharmaceuticals,
Manufacturing, IT & ITES, Renewable Energy & Others.
*Why Government of India/ State government is not providing any industrial
land to Kashmir Pandit Migrants to set up industry towards economic
rehabilitation in the valley. *
* We urge GOI immediately to sanction minimum 200 Acres of land which
should be allocated/reserved for Kashmiri Pandit Migrants who want to set
up industry in Kashmir at nominal cost.*
9) I shall like to mention here that an allocation of Rs 679 crore has
been made for the salary, cash assistance, food grains and civic action
programme for Kashmiri Migrants for the year 2020-21, which is Rs 319 crore
more than the previous year by GOI .
*But there is no provision of budget allocation/towards the Physical &
Economic rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits *
*Almost six years have passed for the Modi-led government, but no proposal
has been made by Government of India to return and rehabilitate the
Kashmiri Pandits in the valley.*
* Volunteered 419 Kashmiri Pandit families had been promised land and house
in Kashmir as part of the return and rehabilitation process, but nothing
has been done in this regard. The list had been submitted to the MOS , J&K
Governor and the PMO. *
*Around 100 Kashmiri Pandit non migrant families are living in Kashmir.
They are living in rented accommodation. They should also be included in
this package. *
*We Urge GoI tp immediately to allocate Rs Three lakh crore budget towards
the physical & economic rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit Migrants in the
current financial year with special provision. We urge GoI to immediately
notify the land towards the physical rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits
across 10 districts of Kashmir Valley. The Kashmiri Pandit Migrants should
be rehabilitated as per there parliamentary constituency specified on their
migrants Cards.*
10 ) For the protection of the art & culture of the Kashmiri Pandits, we
want one exclusive art and culture building along with amphi-theatre in
which Pandits can display their art, culture and literature. The exile from
Kashmir is threatening the traditions, culture, old scriptures/literature,
and heritage.
We also Urge GoI to sanction 20 acres of land towards setting up the Sharda
University, which had been a heritage of Kashmir ( Asia ) in teaching Vedic
literature of Hinduism & spirituality.
11) We urge GoI to modify new domicile laws of J&K , history is witness
that the Kashmir Pandit community had been always made a target and had
been forced to leave Kashmir valley due to fear or economic reason .
12) Our constitutional & fundamental rights have not been protected being
minority in Kashmir valley.
We seek minority status for us in the Kashmir. And five seats be reserved
for us in the Assembly.
13) The community should be included in the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The
reason being the community cannot afford high medical costs and in the Rs
13,000/month relief, they cannot afford much on health care
14) GoI had promised that 50,000 jobs will be generated within J&K.
For the past five years, engineers, MBA holders’ diploma holders, and 12th
pass youth are unemployed, who are non-migrants living in Kashmir. We urge
the government to reserve jobs for these non-migrants Kashmir Pandits as
well.
Must Read: Is it true Coronavirus completely destroyed after using the sanitizer ?
Press Release by: Mr. Satish Mahaldar
Chairman
Reconciliation , Return & Rehabilitations of Migrants
C-387, Sector-7 , Dwarka
NewDelhi , India -110075
HP 9818099625
