Jammu January 25:(KNS) "Kashmiri Pandits counted Muftis as symbol of communalism & feudal politics in Jammu & Kashmir always. The developments of February 1986 in the Kashmir valley in regard to the destruction, burning and demolition of temples and shrines are alive in the minds and utterances of the minority Hindu community of Kashmir and will remain as such", said Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, senior BJP and Kashmiri Pandit leader and Incharge, Deptt of Political Affairs and Feedback, J&K-BJP.
He was responding to the statement of Mehbooba Mufti that 'it always distressed Mufti Syeed to see Kashmiri Pandits forced to leave their homes. In his first stint as J&K CM he initiated the process of their return by building a conducive atmosphere. For him it went beyond rhetoric & he was committed to their dignified homecoming' while interacting with the political activists in a function on the eve of Republic Day at Jammu.
In a statement to "Kashmir News Service" (KNS), Chrungoo said, "it needs to be clarified that the scars of 1986, 1989 & 1990, when Mufti Syeed was on key positions to influence the events during his various tenures and responsibilities, are yet ripe for the Pandits. It was during Mufti's period as the Home Minister that the Pandits were shown the road of exodus and the then Home Ministry looked like a silent spectator rather complacent in the eyes of the people concerned. The kind of politics that PDP and Muftis practiced all along created separatist, communal and feudal power centres in J&K".
The recent outbursts of Shah Faesal are a big symbol of realisation that the separatist, sub-national and communal politics is now a part of past history and has no future in Jammu and Kashmir. He praised Shah acknowledging, "I’m not anti-India, not a traitor, Shah Faesal is a reformed man, loves the country and wanted to stay within the system". This also reflects the impact of Modi led government's Kashmir policy.
While referring to the political parties' statements about return of Kashmiri Pandits, Chrungoo maintained, "the current focus of the Kashmiri Pandit community is four-dimensional and includes the following four preludes to the resettlement of the displaced community in the valley as per its geo-political aspirations. These include demand of Reservation/Nomination in the J&K UT Assembly through the process of the current Delimitation process, establishment of Special Crimes Tribunal to go into the excesses committed against the Hindu-Sikh minorities over the last 35 years, constitution of a Board for all Hindu shrines and temples in the valley through a piece of legislation in the form of a Bill or Ordinance and elimination of terrorism from the soil of Kashmir on a permanent basis".
Rest is purely peripheral from the political point of view and can be dealt with the required administrative intervention like the PM Employment package, One-time settlement of the overage youth of the community and the nullification of the distress sale of properties etc. (KNS)