Members of the exiled Kashmiri Pandit community Sunday took a pledge to intensify their struggle to reclaim their separate ‘homeland’ with a Union Territory status in Kashmir valley on the occasion of the completion of 35 years in exile.
On 19th January 1990, the Kashmiri Pandit community was driven out of their homes under the shadow of guns. To mark this day, each year ‘Holocaust Remembrance Day’ is observed to mark their ongoing struggle for a permanent resettlement.
Over 500,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee, leaving behind their homes, businesses, and ancestral heritage.
Paying solemn tributes in the memory of countless martyrs, killed at the hands of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, the members of the Kashmiri Pandit community, sporting bandanas, took out a solidarity march and also organized a signature campaign in the Jagti township on the outskirts of Jammu.
To highlight their struggle and the living conditions in exile, Panun Kashmir along with Youth for Panun Kashmir also organized an exhibition of posters depicting their plight.
Images of vandalized temples, broken homes, and martyred Kashmiri pandits were put on display to depict the sufferings and pain they went through during the 35-year-long period of exile.
Sushma Pandita, seated inside a temporary tent in a park inside Jagti township, explained that 35 years ago when we first reached Jammu we were accommodated inside a makeshift tent city. “We were living in our multi-floor houses in the valley. Since then we have been living in these camps where we were accommodated in one-room and later two-room apartments. We have spent 35 years of life in these miserable conditions. We will not live in these matchbox houses now. We want to return to our homes and hearths”.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Agnishekhar of Panun Kashmir reiterated their commitment to continue their struggle to reclaim their separate Homeland in the valley.
Referring to the distribution of 65 lakh Property cards by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Agnishekhar claimed none of the members of the exiled Kashmiri pandit community received it. He said we have been living in exile in Jammu and other cities across India yet we have been forced to fill in the address of Kashmir valley from where we were driven out forcibly. The successive governments marginalized us and false narratives were peddled to mislead the people outside Jammu and Kashmir. Dr Agnishekhar said when Articles 370 and 35-A were Abrogated in August 2019 we welcomed the same as we expected the move may also open up the gates of our ‘Ghar Wapsi’ at the earliest. Expressing dismay Dr Agnishekhar said we continue to remain on the margins. Our genocide has not been recognized. The properties of Kashmiri pandits were put to distress sale and all those Kashmiri pandits, who were given jobs under the PM’s package, have been targeted in the Kashmir valley and have no social life. He added, on its part the government claims they have restored normalcy in the valley, the tourist footfall has increased and film shootings are happening. He said for us it’s a cruel joke. “We are ready to return to Kashmir valley in our separate homeland where we will get all the constitutional guarantees and foolproof security arrangements. From where no terrorist organization can uproot us, where we enjoy the support of fellow Indians”. Dr Agnishekhar said, “We have given this roadmap 35 years ago and till the time the government is ready to create a conducive atmosphere we will continue to suffer in exile”.