The Government of India has failed Kashmiri Pandits as they are still living as refugees in their own country. The state as well as the central government has not taken substantial measures till date for the return of Kashmiri Pandits back to the valley, says Varad Sharma
Amidst Covid scare, hundreds of pilgrims paid obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Friday for the annual Kheer Bhawani mela, praying for peace in the union territory and for the pandemic to end.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday expressed regret that his government had not been successful in ensuring return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, and vowed to regenerate a "sense of security" among them so that they willingly go back to their homes.
Citing media reports, KPSS chief Sanjay K Tickoo claimed that the Hindus living in Kashmir wanted to leave the Valley but the government was not allowing them to do so.
Hurriyat Conference leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Bilal Lone were on Thursday manhandled allegedly by a group of Kashmiri Pandit activists who stormed a seminar being attended by them in Chandigarh.
Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits on Friday thronged the revered north Kashmir Khir Bhawani temple on the annual festival. The temple is located at Tullamulla, 26 kilometres from summer capital Srinagar in Ganderbal district.
'I come from a conservative family.' 'They had sent me to Bengaluru to study and wanted me to focus on my career.' 'I went for the Miss India auditions because it was something I wanted to do for myself.' 'My family was there and saw me perform live.' 'After I got through the finals, they supported me.' 'Now they want me to be the game-changer -- to be the first-ever Kashmiri Pandit to carve a niche in the fashion world.'
'We are puppets. We have to go where the government takes us.' Archana Masih reports on Kashmiri Pandits facing a third migration after they fled their homeland in the late 1990s.
The Kashmiri Pandits have lost hope of returning to that place in the Kashmir valley they once called home and that is one of contemporary India's biggest tragedies. Archana Masih reports on a people callously termed as 'migrants' in their own land.
After hearing the news of his death, hundreds of Muslims gathered at his residence to perform his last rites.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz Khan, the Durga Nag Trust has asked them to allow a delegation to visit the temple, located on the banks of Krishan Ganga in Neelam valley in PoK.
The Kashmiri Pandit leadership from across the United States, led by California-based community activist Jeevan Zutshi, last week met senior Obama administration officials at the State Department and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to implore them to help address the plight of the Pandits in India.
'There is no peace in the Kashmir Valley.'
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that India and Pakistan came closer to resolving the Kashmir issue during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. He added that he does not expect a return to that situation in his lifetime. Abdullah lauded Singh's efforts on Kashmir, including the setting up of working groups on the issue, and said he practically initiated measures for the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The chief minister also praised Singh's contribution to India's economic development.
Kashmiri Pandits should be brought back and their views taken into consideration said advocate, social activist Prashant Bhushan, who is also a core committee member in Anna Haraze's team on Saturday, at the San Francisco Bay Area.
The statement was made by the Kashmiri Hindu conference chairperson.
'These statements which you are telling me were never uttered from mosques on that day.' 'And if this had happened, I would have got the report as the chief secretary of J&K.'
Delegations of Kashmiri Pandit organisations on Friday met Union Minister Jitendra Singh seeking the Centre's intervention in allowing a pilgrimage to Kounsarnag Lak in South Kashmir, a day after locals had protested against the event.
Major opposition political parties and separatists groups in J&K on Wednesday slammed the move of the government to create separate townships for Kashmiri pandit migrants.
Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora, a body representing the community across the world, said the decision cements territorial, political and cultural unity of the Indian Union.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started interviewing eyewitnesses, including tourists, in connection with the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, south Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22. Initial investigations suggest that five to seven terrorists were involved, aided by local militants trained in Pakistan. Security forces are conducting massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range.
Facing flak from opposition parties and separatists, Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday made a U-turn on the controversial plans for composite townships in the valley for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, saying they are "part and parcel of the Kashmiri fabric of life" and would be settled at their native places and "not as an isolated community".
The Hurriyat leader has initiated some steps for return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley and held talks with their representatives in this regard.
Hurriyat in touch with Kashmiri Pandits
As many as 3,655 displaced Kashmiri pandits would exercise their right of franchise in four assembly segments of Kupwara district which go to polls in the third leg of the seven-phase elections in Jammu and Kashmir on November 30.
Displaced Kashmiri Pandits on Tuesday staged a sit-in in Srinagar to protest the all-party delegation's visit to Jammu and Kashmir and raised anti-government slogans, prompting police to cane-charge and take into custody 114 people, including 15 girls.
The township for the Kashmiri Pandit migrants at Jagti on the outskirts of Jammu was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh when he handed over allotment papers to a group of 12 selected families.
Sandeep Mawa is a Kashmiri Pandit married to a Kashmiri Muslim, intent upon spreading the message of love and Kashmiriyat through his campaign. He wants to hug Assaduddin Owaisi, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and do a pau lago to Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi.
In a flip-flop, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Thursday told the assembly that his government has no plans to set up separate clusters for settlement of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com comes across a Ganesh temple in Kashmir's summer capital that remains a well kept secret.
In a significant move, separatists have decided to hold talks with Kashmiri Pandit migrants to discuss their return to the Valley.
'Diplomatic and economic responses are first announced and then implemented. A military response is announced only after it is done.'
'The BJP claims they have eight lakh cadres in the Kashmir Valley so why can't they contest elections from Kashmir?'
The government of India has a moral responsibility for working towards a consensus for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland, says B Raman
Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits kept their annual date with the Khir Bhawani festival at north Kashmir's Tullamulla temple, about 30 kms from summer capital Srinagar, on Monday.
'If Pakistan has fired one bullet at us then we have to respond by firing 10 bullets at them. It is our right to do so.'
A large number of devotees, including Pandits and other locals, filled the streets with religious slogans, dancing, and joy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances