Displacement of Kashmiri Pandits a blot on Muslims, says Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar: Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the displacement of Kashmir Pandits was a blot on the Muslim community, and appealed for their political empowerment.

Mehbooba Mufti said this while addressing a media conference in Srinagar after meeting Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhawan here. It was the first time in the last five years that she was called on the Lt. Governor.

She gave a detailed letter to the Lt Governor, which scripted a roadmap for the return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits to their native places.

Mufti called the migration of the local Pandit community out of the Valley ‘a blot on Kashmir and Kashmiri Muslims’.

During the media conference, the PDP president spoke of the political empowerment of Kashmiri Pandits.

“Kashmiri Pandits need to be empowered politically, for which the reservation needs to be ensured for them. In this way, we can ensure real integration. I told the Lt Governor to convey to the Centre to ensure reservation for Kashmiri Pandits instead of nominations for them,” she said.

She said that the return of Kashmiri Pandits cannot be possible without empowering the community, and it was time to work jointly to remove the blot on Kashmiri Muslims over their exodus from the valley.

Mufti’s statement comes a day ahead of the revered Kheer Bhawani Mela in the Ganderbal district. Thousands of Kashmir Pandits from the country and outside will congregate at the temple on June 3 to celebrate ‘Jaeth Asthami’.

The community was forced to flee Kashmir in the early 90s when terrorism unleashed a wave of terror in the valley and carried out targeted attacks on its members.

The PDP chief, in the press conference, also spoke about the successful conduct of the Amarnath yatra. She demanded that more locals be involved in sharing the Yatra responsibilities.

Mufti said she discussed this during her meeting with the L-G, and demanded to closely associate the locals in the process.

She also demanded the release of Kashmiri prisoners with no serious charges.

“I also demanded that those having no serious charges should be released in view of the Eid, and those languishing in different jails in the country should be brought back,” she said.

In answer to a question whether the elected Jammu and Kashmir government was powerless, she said Omar Abdullah has been weakening the elected government himself.

She said that the Chief Minister, instead of discussing the Waqf Amendment Act, preferred to welcome Union Minister Kiren Rijiju to Tulip Garden.

–IANS