Jammu, January 22
The 74-year-old All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, headed by Mr Amarnath Vaishnavi, has started making efforts to bring several Pandit bodies under one umbrella.
The need for such an exercise was felt after the Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, expressed willingness to invite other political groups, including Kashmiri Pandits, for talks on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
The General Secretary of the All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC), Mr Hira Lal Chatha, told this correspondent here yesterday, “We are trying to form a joint front of various Kashmiri Pandit organisations so that leaders who matter in the community are able to take part in the talks with the Prime Minister.”
In reply to a question Mr Chatha said,‘‘We are in touch with the leaders of three factions of Panun
Kashmir, Vichar Manch and Pandit organisations in the camps to form a joint front of all these bodies.”
He said there were more than a dozen organisations and only five to seven of these had some following and added that “our plan is bring these bodies under one umbrella.”
He said, “We appreciate Mr Manmohan Singh for bringing about a shift in the Central Government’s stand because in the past the government was inclined to hold talks only with Kashmiri separatist leaders.”
Mr Chatha said “Kashmiri Pandits are the worst sufferers of the 16-year-long turmoil and our leaders cannot be ignored or sidelined during talks.”
He said hitherto a majority of Pandit bodies had favoured a separate homeland within the valley where the migrants could be rehabilitated.
He said since militants and their supporters in Kashmir had rejected religious co-existence, it was time to settle Pandits in a separate homeland within Kashmir. He made it clear that “it is our viewpoint and during our meeting with the Prime Minister several other alternatives could be discussed.”
Mr Chatha made it clear that since people living in camps faced enormous problems there was need to upgrade civic and other amenities in the camps till “our return to Kashmir.”
The homeland demand had reverberated in Jammu and other areas of the country when the internally displaced community members observed Exodus Day on January 19. Dr Agnishekhar, chief of Panun Kashmir, and Dr K.L.Chowdhary supported the homeland demand saying the situation prevailing in Kashmir could not ensure free, peaceful and honourable existence for Hindus.
