Displaced Kashmiri Pandits observed January 19 as the ‘holocaust day’ to mark the exodus of their community members from the Valley in 1990 due to threats and killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.
Aper Per PTI report, Several migrant organisations like Panun Kashmir, Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD), Kashmir Pandit Sabha (KPS), Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS), Save Sharda Committee (SSC) and All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) held programmes during the day to pay tributes to the victims and to reaffirm commitment to the cause of the Kashmiri Pandits.
Events were also held at Jagti and Muthi migrant camps .
The organisations demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should personally intervene to settle the Kashmir Pandit community, living as refugees in their own country for the past 32 years, in the valley.
Panun Kashmir said it has taken a renewed pledge to rededicate itself to the cause of a separate homeland in the valley.
It was on January 19, 1990, when an entire community was forced to leave Kashmir amid calls of cheliv galiv ya raliv (leave, die, or mix)”, a Panun Kashmir leader said.
The day marks the beginning of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits on a mass scale that ultimately culminated in the complete exodus of the aboriginal indigenous people that represented a civilisation that was more than 5,000 years old, he said.
“We are caught in uncertainity. We do not know our future. We had high hope that the government led by PM Modi will ensure the reversal of genocide by facilitating our return back to the valley. But nothing has happened post the abrogation of Article 370,” said Sahil Pandita of the Jagti camp.
Panun Kashmir leader Kamal Bagati said, Kashmiri Pandits have suffered genocide, ethnic cleansing and exodus despite being the indigenous people of Kashmir and it is the duty of the government to resettle them in their homeland in accordance with their geopolitical aspirations.
A large group of Kashmiri Pandits from the Delhi-NCR region organised a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The protest was organised and led by Ravinder Pandita, Head of Save Sharda Committee Kashmir.
He said the government should take practical steps in consultations with the community for its safe return to Kashmir.
Virji Kachroo, a Kashmiri Pandit expressed his resentments against the Central government and asked why is this government not sending us to back our homes in Kashmir valley.
“We voted the Central government twice, thinking of that they will take this issue seriously. We do want to ask the government when will we go back to our home?” Kachroo said.
“It has been 32 years since we have been struggling to date. This is not just a normal day for us, it was the day when were driven away from our homes,” he said.
Shadilal Pandit, another Kashmiri Pandit said “we have been living our lives in exile. 19 January 1990 was a black day when Pakistan conspired against Kashmiri pandits and we have thrown out of our homes.”
Shadilal slammed the Central government for not taking appropriate action to ensure the rehabilitation of the community.
“We are disappointed with the government who promised us rehabilitation but they have used us as a political tool,” he said.
