In a joint address to the Parliament of India – the first after the formation of the new government – President Pranab Mukherjee spoke about Kashmiri Pandits. President Mukherjee said, “Special efforts will be made to ensure that Kashmiri Pandits return to the land of their ancestors with full dignity, security and assured livelihood”. [Source: http://bit.ly/SEXL5j]

This was perhaps the first time in the last two decades that a President was talking about the minority Hindus of Kashmir who are refugees in their own country. Immediately after that, writer and film-maker Siddhartha Gigoo (who is a Kashmiri Pandit) tweeted, “It is so nauseating to come across the rant about the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits”.[Source: http://bit.ly/1ojZ48E]

The tweet is telling of the distrust and loss of faith among Kashmiri Pandits in the Indian state. Things have more or less been the same for the exiled community of Kashmiri Pandits even after more than two decades. During his election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken of the safe return of Kashmiri Pandits back to Kashmir valley. The Bharatiya Janata Party had also mentioned the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits back to the valley in its poll manifesto.

There is talk about a comprehensive plan being formulated for the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to flee in 1989-1990 owing to insurgency. The special package being proposed would include enhanced financial assistance, security to life and property, government jobs and other employment opportunities.

There are 58,697 Kashmiri migrant families registered with respective relief authorities that include 38,119 families in Jammu, 19,338 families in Delhi and 1,240 families in other places in India. (As per the written reply by MullappallyRamchandran, then the Minister of State for Home, to a question asked in LokSabha on May 15, 2012.) [Source: http://bit.ly/1qa2ydn]

It is a good sign that the Narendra Modi-led government is concerned about the return of Kashmiri Pandits. But are they committing the same mistake like that of the previous UPA government who failed to address the fundamental issues of justice and security first?

The previous government led by Dr Manmohan Singh had also announced a return and rehabilitation package in April 2008 which failed to bring Kashmiri Pandits back to the valley. The package included assistance of Rs 7.5 lakh per family for repair/reconstruction of fully or partially damaged houses, assistance of Rs 2 lakh per family for dilapidated/unused houses, assistance of Rs 7.5 lakh per family for purchase/construction of a house in Group Housing Societies for those who had sold their properties during the turmoil in 1989, before the enactment of “The J&K Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint of Distress Sale) Act, 1997” on May 30, 1997. [Source: Jammu &Kashmir Division, Ministry of Home Affairs http://www.mha.nic.in/more3#f]

The Pandits didn’t leave the valley for financial reasons. They left because they were unsafe in the valley. Linking economics with the return, without promising justice to the community and addressing security concerns is bizarre and blinkered.

More than 700 Pandits have been killed in the valley due to armed insurgency.  There have been brutal rapes and gruesome crimes committed against Hindu women. Barbaric massacres (Wandhama, Nadimarg, Sangrampora, etc) have taken place in the Kashmir valley in which Pandits were murdered. There have not been any convictions in this regard. Doesn’t this ethnic community deserve justice? There has been no judicial commission/probe about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in 1990. What is appalling is that no one talks about prosecuting those behind the ethnic cleansing of Pandits from Kashmir. There is a haunting silence. Human rights organisations remain mute spectators.

The return and rehabilitation program for Kashmiri Pandits must include the delivery of justice. In fact, this should be the first step in healing the wounds of this community. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government must act in delivering justice to the ethnic community who are the aborigines of Kashmir valley.

Keeping aside the return and rehabilitation plan for a moment, the pertinent question is that whether the valley is favourable for the return of minority Hindus. Of late, there have been incidents of killings of Panchs/Sarpanchs in the valley. Which implies that terrorists are still very much at large.

I spoke to Sanjay Tickoo who heads the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), a valley-based Kashmiri Pandit organisation. He said, “Keeping in mind the unrest in 2008 and 2010, I am apprehensive about the situation on-ground. Is the present situation conducive for the return and rehabilitation of Pandits? I have doubts”. On being asked about the special package for rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley which is being talked about, he said, “Has the government of India done sufficient exercise and taken all things into consideration including speaking to the community members before deciding on the return plan? If the government is planning townships for Pandits in the valley, then it would be concentrated zones. Despite the security for such townships, a person has to travel for work outside these townships. What about security then?”

The valley is relatively at peace but security remains the main concern for the Pandits in the valley. What is the guarantee that the Pandits will be safe in the valley after their return? There is no surety that terrorists won’t make an attempt to attack the Pandits in the valley. This needs to be taken into account while formulating the plan for return and rehabilitation.

Also, the rehabilitation program should cater to the political aspirations of the community so that there is no foul play in future. There are contradictory views among Kashmiri Pandits over political aspirations, though. Some sections among the Pandit community want reservation of Assembly and Parliamentary seats for the community. Others want a separate homeland to be carved out from the present day Kashmir – a demand which is espoused by the Pandit organization, Panun Kashmir.

Amidst the debate about the return of Pandits with the new government at the helm, Dr Ajay Chrungoo, Chairman – Panun Kashmir, says “So far governments have been addressing the issue of non-return of Kashmiri Hindus instead of the issue of religious cleansing”.

Since the declaration of Narendra Modi as the prime-ministerial candidate by the BJP, there is hope amongst the Pandit community that their issues will be redressed and that there is the possibility of safe and dignified return if he comes to power. Now that Modi has become the Prime Minister of India, it has to be seen what kind of plan he and his government will chalk out for the return and rehabilitation of Pandits back to the valley. The new government must talk to the Pandit community before preparing any plan for the return back to Kashmir valley.