OPEN LETTER TO HOME MINISTER OF INDIA
Hon’ble Shri P Chidambaram,
Home Minister of India ,
NEW DELHI.
Sub: Pooling Energies to attend J&K affairs setting aside party politics
Respected Chidambaram Jee,
I have learnt through media that you are visiting Jammu. May almighty give strength to the wills that you have expressed at Madhurai. Kashmir affairs need be taken up above party politics before it is too late, at least as regards the socio communal interests of the people of J&K are concerned.
1.Statements nearly negating 1947 Accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India are so common in 2009. I would request you to just have a look at the reporting done in Srinagar dailies on a seminar held on Ist November. The conditions in J&K { particularly Valley } are not encouraging for New Delhi.
2. Unfortunately all Kashmiri Muslims are being misunderstood by the other world as being fully involved in pushing out Kashmiri Hindus from valley where as the truth is not so. This is causing a great damage to the good will of Kashmiri Muslims and ties between Hindu & Muslim could weaken out of ignorance..In the past the Kashmiri Hindu too has been the source of information on Kashmir affairs for Bharat Sarkar. It is only after 1989 that the alleged “social bads” of majority community of Kashmir Valley were “ blown” so loud.
3. Main stream { so called } leadership of JK has done very little to undo the damage inflicted by those who { though the number was very less in 1947 /48 } had anti 1947 Accession ideologies. Instead “mainstream” Kashmiri leadership has been all along accusing India or eroding special status of “Kashmiries”. More so after 1990 the elite Kashmiri leadership itself is in such a situation where elections in Valley can not be won with out laying some accusations on New Delhi of breaking promises & ill treating Kashmiries since 1947.
4. Those who inflict injuries through bullet can cause lesser damage. But those who inflict injuries on the mindset of the common man country through ideological game plans using socio communal tools for their political interest can cause much more damage. More agonizing it is when the propagators are not honest even towards their “own people” Jammu and Kashmir has been the worst victim of such a “warfare”.
5. The youth back in Valley have very less appealing information about Kashmir being India. So, more rearing grounds have hence emerged to help anti India forces ( foreign mercenaries/ local insurgent / Pakistan loyalists) to cultivate stories against the goodwill for India / 1947 accession of JK with India. Kashmiri kids who were in primary class in 1989 have now (2009) started listening to those who propagate views like some dispute regarding their Nationality. Those back in Valley are so mis informed that many not believe in confidence building efforts made directly by officials as well as the security forces. So social re modeling strategies need to be reworked.
6 Government of India was considerate to feel the miseries of those poor Kashmiri Migrants {Kashmiri Pandits in particular } who had to leave Kashmir Province of J&K due to ultimate threats assessed /sensed by them {some are still staying in the tents and one room apartments at Nagrota, Muthi, Mishriwala, Roopnagar etc near Jammu . But efforts appear lacking in taking them back to valley.
7.Local Hindu from Kashmir Valley is out for nearly 20 years. It is enough to make the outside world think that India has some serious problem in J&K. Simply the holidaying couples visiting Kashmir can not restore the confidence of the World for Kashmir being India.
8.The decision by Government of India { 2004} to add one more pacca room to the one room accommodation already provided to migrants had already sent wrong signals. With launch {July 2007 } of project for construction of multistory pucca apartments for Kashmir Migrants out side valley , World could simply infer that GOI is not hopeful for ensuring the return of Kashmiri Hindu in the near future. On 23 June 2005 UNI reported from New Delhi that MOS for Home GOI Sripraksh Jaiswal told at a press conference that 1000 Kashmiri Migrants had given applications for return to Kashmir valley and living in apartments constructed by the State Government at Singhpora in South Kashmir. But till November 2009 there is no return and we are still lost in debate over return packages.
9.The Kashmiri Migrants had not left the valley due to economic reasons. Had it been so then they would not have got the sympathetic support in education, business , jobs , housing as has been extended to them by one and all in other Indian states. So it will not be in the interest of India to look for return of Kashmiri Migrants { mostly Kashmiri Hindu } through providing them jobs or economic support. Roads- buildings-material bridges and the like could be built any time later. Government at this moment of India must set return of migrants to Kashmir Valley as priority number one. Some hard decision will have to be taken.
10. Delay in “Return” of POK Displaced Persons {1947} to Mirpur or Muzafarabad can not be compared with Kashmiri migrants {1990}.
POK is under the control of Pakistan but Kashmir is under the control of India.
11. POK DPs { those from Pakistan Occupied parts J&K } have remained in confusion since last 62 years. Only support given to them was the sanction of ex gratia of just Rs.3500 per family in cash or kind in 1960s . Even this ex gratia was not paid to all families who came from POK. It is their neglect that has now compelled them to question the relief packages being given to Kashmiri Migrants. It is not a good sign. The issue of , economic support, education/ employment , property claims should be also reworked for POK DPs keeping in view the compensation they deserve for delayed { 5 decades} support/claims .
12.Regular wars do not consume so much of blood of soldiers as we are consuming in J&K
Those Local leaders who so casually lay allegations on the Security forces must be checked with zero tolerance now onwards.. No democracy like India can afford to keep the Army for longer periods in civilian areas as otherwise it could do huge damage to the honor and goodwill of the Army and para military forces.
13.All energies must be concentrated on attending to JK affairs seriously and working more for repairing the socio political matrix of J&K rather than spending money on roads, buildings and clearing the muck from the rivers and lakes . Return of migrants to Kashmir valley could be one of the must stitches. Unless it is done the world view and the views of innocent local Kashmiri on J&K being a disputed territory between India and Pakistan would keep on making further inroads ; opportunities to anti India / anti 1947 Accession forces to inflict internal insurgencies in J&K in one form or the other too would be there.
14 Migrant State Government employees must be asked to work in Kashmir/. State Government Employees in moving departments, should be given accommodation in colonies with in local muslims , many misgivings could be set aside and reconstruction of the communal matrix will start.
With highest regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Daya Sagar , 03/04 November 2009
(Daya Sagar is a social activist and freelance journalist)
Feed back at: dayasagr@yahoo.co.uk
(Opinions expressed in writeups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the Scoop News)
editor@scoopnews.in
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