Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits, said former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah demanding a probe by retired Supreme Court judges into the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in early 1990s.
Replying to questions during a webinar, Abdullah said he was of the firm belief that Kashmir is incomplete without Pandits and that he would support any mechanism to bring them back honorably.
Nearly 60,000 Kashmiri Pandit families are registered as migrants after the onset of militancy in the Kashmir Valley in early 1990s. Abdullah chose to blame the then former Governor Jagmohan for the exodus and said that he “took them away” on the false promise of ensuring their return within three months.
Meanwhile, questioning the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and establishment of Islamic state that was initiated by the Kashmiri Muslim leadership, Jammu and Kashmir Workers Party President Mir Junaid, in an opinion piece asked, “Was it a political conspiracy (with the consent of all political parties and state machinery) to ensure permanent exit of the Pandits from Kashmir?
He further asked: “Was not that ‘Azadi’ granted to buy some peace in the region? Else, how does one explain total apathy of all the political parties and the highest court in the land towards the plight of the Pandits? Who will answer as to why this tragic event was never ever discussed in Parliament and why no Inquiry Commission was set up to find out why Pandits were made to flee and who were its mastermind? Why V P Singh said: ‘Who Pandits’.”
Mir further asked demanded a probe on the Pandit exodus.
“Pandits may not say it openly, but the fact of their disillusionment with the Indian Union cannot be denied. So, can it be said that at the end of thirty years the Muslims are disillusioned with Pakistan and the Pandits with India? Unless answers to the above question are found there may not be a true remedy to the trauma of Kashmir,” he said.
“Government of India should initiate a probe into the exodus of Pandits and those found responsible or part of the conspiracy should be punished. I have all the time demanding the probe and requesting our Pandit brethren to come back home. We are incomplete without you,” Mir added.
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