Will Kashmiri Pandits return? No amount of rhetoric will work until and unless the State Government does not create political and economic space to give them a level playing field for survival
Supreme Court Calls for ATR on Migrant Kashmiri Pandits
Legal Correspondent (The Hindu)
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file an action taken report on housing, employment and payment of cash compensation to Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave their land.
A Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar gave this direction on a public interest petition seeking a White Paper on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits living here and in other parts of the country.
The petition by the All-India Kashmiri Samaj and others wanted the displaced Kashmiris involved in all future meetings, negotiations and agreements being entered into by the government concerning the Kashmir Valley. It said the Kashmiri Pandits should be declared internally displaced persons as per the principles laid down by the United Nations General Assembly.
Taking into consideration the petitioner’s plea, the Chief Justice asked Additional Solicitor-General Indira Jaising to associate leaders of the Kashmiri migrants and file the action taken report in four weeks.
Earlier, the ASG said Rs.7.5 lakh was being given as compensation to those whose houses were completely destroyed and to those who were willing to return to the Valley and wanted to construct a house; and Rs.2 lakh for those whose houses were partly destroyed.
Also, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to the Valley, had announced a relief package of Rs.1,600 for each migrant Pandit family. The monthly compensation per family staying in Delhi had been raised from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000. However, senior counsel S.L. Ganju, appearing for the petitioner, said only Rs. 4,000 was still being given. Ultimately, these migrants had to return to the Valley, and for this, they had to be involved in the consultation process.
Moreover, though about 2,000 people were killed during 1989 when the Pandits were forced to leave the Valley, there was not a single prosecution.
The CJI told counsel: “First we will concentrate on the economic issue and then we will consider other issues. We are not concerned with politics, keep politics out.” (9 November 2010)
No Migrant Family Returned to Valley: GOI
New Delhi: The Government of India Tuesday said that no migrant family has returned to the Kashmir valley.
“No family (migrant) has returned to the Valley and it is not possible to indicate any time line for the same,” Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
Maken said nearly 59,000 families are reported to have migrated from Kashmir following the outbreak of militancy in the 1990s and none of them has returned to the Valley till now.
“Due to the onset of militancy in the 1990’s, 58,697 families are reported to have migrated from the Valley and are temporarily settled in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country,” he said.
Giving details of the various measures taken for rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, he said 200 flats have been constructed at Sheikpora in Budgam district.
Two model clusters in Matttan and Kheer Bhavani containing temporary shelters for Kashmiri migrants have 18 flats and 100 one-room tenements respectively, Maken said