Srinagar, Jul 16 (KNS): Kashmir civil society takes strong exception to the Governor Satya Pal Malik’s assertion that settling Pandits in separate colonies is a compulsion and not a choice.

The fact that thousands of Pandits have returned over past many years and settled comfortably along with their Muslim neighbours is a proof enough that old brotherhood is intact and there is no threat to their safety and security, the spokesman said in a statement issued to media.

This is also borne out by the fact that those Pandits who stayed back have been living peacefully with their Muslim neighbours who have been of great support to them at times of need like the occasions of marriage and death and illness.

What does Governor mean by compulsion when thousands of Pandits live here in spite of the presence of militants which they rake up as a threat to their safety and security? Secondly, govt is belying his own claims and destabilising her own narrative of having finished militancy when they express compulsion to set up separate colonies for the safety and security of Pandits, the spokesman added. (KNS)