The Hindu : We want Pandits to return, says Mufti

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 10, 2003

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

We want Pandits to return, says Mufti

By Shujaat Bukhari

TULMULLA June 9. It was a sort of a homecoming for over 50,000 Kashmiri Pandits, at the annual festival of the Kheer Bhawani, with none other than the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, playing host to them.

Most of them had come from Jammu and other places, some for the first time, in the last 15 years.

As Mufti's advisers termed the Pandits' participation in the `mela' as acknowledgement of his call of return and endorsement of his "healing touch" policy, the Chief Minister had a word of caution for the gathering.

He asked them to be wary of the enemies of peace, who were hell-bent on disrupting peace. He admitted that the Nadimarg massacre was a major setback. "My Government's plans to bring back Pandits received a serious setback after Nadimarg incident... .We will try our best to bring them back and we are hopeful that they will definitely return".

A host of Ministers also made a beeline to Tulmulla to join the prayers at the temple.

The people of Kashmir, who are known for their secular values, should strive for the return of the community, he said, adding that the elderly were willing to return, but the youth were reluctant. Emphasising that their return was his "dream", he said those staying back in the Valley were his priority. "We will provide jobs, relief and facilities to the Pandits who have stayed back here and did not migrate".

Around 160 of the 700 Pandit families in Kashmir had fled after the Nadimarg massacre.

The Mufti announcing a "comprehensive plan" to provide a facelift to the Kheer Bhawani temple, at a cost of Rs.1 crore, also said many other Hindu sites were also his priority. Though amused with the presence of politicians, the visiting devotees were engrossed in their own world.

"I think, the atmosphere is good. I came for the first time but under police protection. The day we are able to travel without police security, I will return home," a former resident of Srinagar, Sham Lal, said.

A government employee, Chuni Lal, said hundreds of families were ready to return this spring, but the Nadimarg incident stopped them.

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