New Delhi: Rehabilitating Kashmiri Pandits was a crucial part of the BJP election manifesto and even though funds have been allocated for the urgent rehabilitation of the affected community, it is still a long road back to the valley for many.
The plight of the Kashmiri Pandits has indeed been a hard one with every family's own heartbreaking tale of hardship and survival. Today, over 4,000 Kashmiri Pandit families live in a sprawling concrete ghetto near Jammu called the Jagti settlement.
"The journey to Jammu was perilous, but we had to undertake it but we couldn't go further than that, we had lost our strength" said 80-year-old Moti Lal Raina, an occupant of the settlement.
Fearing militant strikes in 1990, Raina, his wife Pyari and their four daughters fled Kashmir. In 2003, when militants attacked their native village Nadimarg, killing 24 Hindus including Raina's sister-in-law, it was as if their worst fears had actually come true.
"We don't want to go back to our village. We will go to Srinagar but not to our village because there are no roads to get to our village anymore. We cannot rely on anyone and more importantly, where will we go even if we do back?" asked Pyari, Moti Lal's wife.
The Pandits feel homesick all the more in the harsh Jammu heat and having lived for years on a paltry government stipend and ration, many now yearn to return.
The Centre is discussing fresh rehabilitation proposals with the state administration.
"Earlier the package was Rs 7,50,000 for reconstruction of every house. Now we are proposing 20 lakh rupees for every affected family in view of the cost escalation. And we also want the Centre now to fund for the enhancement of sealing for revival of agriculture and horticulture, employment package for 6,000 youth," said Vinod Kaul, Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Department.
Unfortunately for people like Raina, such packages alone won't help, the trust deficit between majority and minority communities needs to be eliminated as well.
Comments
0 comment