Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Pipls Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehboba Mufti on Monday called Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to focus on the “return and rehabilitation” of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. This is the first one meeting between Mehboba and Sinha as it was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of the Central Region five years ago.
Highlighting that any political process will remain “incomplete” without the return of the Kashmiri Pandit community, Mufti said: “It is a moral mandatory and a social responsibility to ensure that our Pandit brothers and sisters, who were traded from their motherland, are provided with opportunities to return in a way, which is dignity, safe and sustainable”.
Saying that his return is a collective responsibility and not only the government, he introduced a paper to LG on Monday at Raj Bhavan, stating that the ruling spread could be taken for the return of Kashmiri Pandits.
Mufti responded to Sinha to his presentation “positive”, saying that he promised to go through the document and apply “what he can do”.
This step from Mufti came to Kheer Bhavani Temple in Central Kashmir a day before Kheer Bhavani. The annual festival attracts hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits into the valley.
In the document, the Mufti states that the regeneration should be physically grounded and socially durable, requiring a multi-level and inclusive approach.
He said, “The return of displaced persons should be anchored in the spirit of security for government employees, who play an important role in reconstruction of the community’s trust,” he said, urging the LG that every displaced Kashmiri Pandit family should be allotted half the state in their original district, casual on his return, when returning. This allocation “must be legally recognized with” appropriate title and record. “
To ensure the “political empowerment” of the community, the former CM said the current enrollment-based system should be replaced with two reserved constituencies
J&K Legislative Assembly “originally or originally resides from the Kashmir Valley” for Kashmiri Pandits.
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Calling for institutional improvement, Mufti pressurized an autonomous, strong body of the current relief and rehabilitation with a broad and more overall mandate to change the ‘reconciliation and Revision Commission’.
Mufti also said that the issue of transfer of employees working under the Prime Minister’s package is “very rigid” and should be made more flexible.
Meanwhile, with Eid approaching, Mufti urged LG to consider the release of those who were jailed for “relatively less serious allegations” and for those in the jails outside Jammu -Kashmir, who should be taken back to Jammu and Kashmir.
Mufti has also marked copies of the documents to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. He said, “The issue was an important concern of Mufti Saheb (his father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Saeed) and the PDP made it an important part of his agenda,” he said.
This is the first one meeting between Mehboba and LG Manoj Sinha as it was later sworn in on 7 August 2020.
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