An international body of Kashmiri Pandits has sought the help of US Government and its lawmakers in the rehabilitation of the community by creation of a separate homeland for them in Jammu and Kashmir.
For the first time in its history, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will not have a representative from the Kashmiri Pandit community.
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
An influential American Senator on Tuesday asked United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to take up the plight of Kashmiri Pandits and their future with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to US in November. "I urge you to discuss the future of the Pandits with the Indian government," Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio said in a letter to Secretary Clinton.
Only one displaced Kashmiri Pandit family has returned to the Valley so far, the government told Parliament on Tuesday.
Patil admitted that some Pandits were still suffering, but assured the Lok Sabha that attempts were being made to help them live more a secured and peaceful life.
The resolution, moved by Bharatiya Janata Party's Nishikant Dubey, as well as an amendment to include people who have migrated from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for rehabilitation, was adopted by a voice vote.
After spending 20 years in squalid camps in Jammu, the Kashmiri Pandits, who fled their native Kashmir valley to escape ethnic cleansing, will finally move into a new township. But they are not home yet. Archana Masih reports from Jammu on the torment of the Pandits in exile, which remains one of contemporary India's worst tragedies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pledged to work for the welfare of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, refugees from West Pakistan and kin of those killed in terrorist violence, saying the days of their neglect are over.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiri pandits on Wednesday said his purpose to resolve the Kashmir issue will be meaningless if talks with separatists were not followed up by similar parleys with them.
Many of the young Kashmiri Pandits argue that it is quite difficult to go back to the Valley, but for different reasons from their parents': there aren't enough opportunities there. Priyanka finds out what the community thinks in the aftermath of the interlocutors reports on the troubled state
Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir are facing a new threat from 'bedroom jihadis' who use social media to spread misinformation and incite communal discord. These individuals, operating from their homes, are part of a sophisticated cross-border effort to destabilize the region by disseminating inflammatory content and propaganda.
'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.'
'There is no peace in the Kashmir Valley.'
Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has entered mainstream politics, aiming to represent his father's legacy and address the issues facing Kashmiri youth.
This timeline details major terror attacks on civilians in Kashmir since 2000. It highlights incidents targeting the Sikh community, Amarnath pilgrims, and other civilians, including a massacre of Kashmiri Pandits. The timeline also notes attacks on security personnel, including the 2019 Pulwama attack.
Pandits are missing Kashmir more than ever, and KashmirOneStop.com is their window to Kashmir.
'The BJP claims they have eight lakh cadres in the Kashmir Valley so why can't they contest elections from Kashmir?'
'I hope we can move towards peace, stability, and national unity.' 'I believe most Kashmiris want that too.'
The deceased were identified as Abdul Majeed Ganaie, Mehraj-ud-din Dar, Anees Ahmad Mir and Hameed-ul-lah Ganaie.
Threats were often communicated to Pandit homes through notes tied to stones chucked through a window, or a notice pasted on a wall. Those sometimes came from neighbours eyeing that Pandit family's property. Those threats often worked in the atmosphere of terror during that awful season of vacuous exercise of State authority, writes David Devadas, longtime Kashmir watcher and author of two books on the Valley.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com comes across a Ganesh temple in Kashmir's summer capital that remains a well kept secret.
A large number of devotees, including Pandits and other locals, filled the streets with religious slogans, dancing, and joy.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the 'unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives' of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs in Srinagar.
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.
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
The Anandeshwar Bhairav temple reopens after 30 years at Maisuma in the heart of Srinagar. The area is the stronghold and residence of JKLF chief Yasin Malik.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
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.
'A man with a gun commanded respect. I thought if I also got a gun, I could save my family. With this thought, I went to Pakistan and got training there'
'Today, the gift of a good education and the opportunity it creates are out of reach for millions of struggling Californians. That's why I'm running for governor -- to create jobs and give kids a quality education. Jobs and education. That's it. That's my platform'. Neel Tushar Kashkari, the son of Srinagar-born and raised Kashmiri Pandit immigrants, throws his hat in the ring for California governor.
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
'No Indian politician has been killed in India for upholding the Constitution except for Kashmiri mainstream politicians.' 'Yet they call us terrorist or militant.'
'Diplomatic and economic responses are first announced and then implemented. A military response is announced only after it is done.'
'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.'
"The Congress in a way is in the grip of urban Naxals. That is why its thought has become negative," Modi alleged in his 90-minute speech.
Rai said as per the information provided by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, after the abrogation of Article 370, a total of 520 migrants have returned to Kashmir for taking up the jobs under the Prime Minister's Development Package-2015.
A blog linked to TRF, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, published the list of 56 Kashmiri Pandit employees who were recruited under the Prime Minister's Rehabilitation Package, and warned of mounting attacks on them.
''I am not going to force anyone to watch movies. If they want to, they can come and watch.' 'I want to give them the choice that everyone has in the rest of the country.'
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said 180 terrorists, 31 security personnel and 31 civilians were also killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 123 terrorist incidents this year so far.
