Jammu,13-Sep; On the eve of “Kashmiri Pandit Balidan Divas”, a webinar was organised today which was attended by a number of prominent people of the Kashmiri Pandit community. The Webinar was organised by Vasuk Webinar Group and was presided over by Utpal Kaul, senior leader of the KP community.In a statement to Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, senior BJP & KP leader and In charge, Deptt of Political Feedback, BJP-J&K in his presentation remarked, “dreams of martyrs especially Tikalal Tapiloo need to be realised practically. It was he who led Kashmiri Pandits politically in the most adverse circumstances in the valley of Kashmir. He exhibited guts and paid for his valour by his martyrdom on 13th September 1989. In order to commemorate his martyrdom, Kashmiri Pandits have been organising ‘Kashmiri Pandit Balidan Divas’ for the last 32 years in exile” on 14th September every year.Utpal Kaul said, “Kashmir remained the point of attraction and attention for people in the world for the last thousands of years. It has its own dimensions regardless of the situation prevailing in Kashmir. Most of the times, people of value studied Kashmir as a subject of ancient civilization and history, beauty and landscapes, philosophy and culture, arts and crafts, architecture and customs, fauna and flora. There have been other reasons also available for the attention and attraction. The current situation in Jammu and Kashmir brought a number of people nearer to the political whereabouts of it and such a quest continues”.Kashmiri Pandits, the indigenous people of the Kashmir valley, are the primary stakeholders to the land of Kashmir. They have been the first victims of violence in the valley. Their resettlement in Kashmir Valley is our basic commitment. We are conscious of the geopolitical aspirations of Pandits in this regard. We will ensure that the displaced community gets its due through the Delimitation process and things alligned with it.Chrungoo maintained that, It was a fact that the minority community in Kashmir, currently living as the displaced entity, had been asking for the establishment of Special Crimes Tribunal Court to investigate the crimes against humanity in regard to the Pandits. The basis of such Tribunal Court should be the decision of the National Human Rights Commission (India) in which it said that ‘acts akin to genocide have been committed against the Kashmiri Pandit community in Kashmir’.On the occasion, Dr. Rajat Mitra, author of the book, The Infidel Next Door, in his concluding speech described the trans-generational trauma factor among the displaced community caused due to the intermittent historical persecution and forced mass exodus. He suggested that the international opinion makers need to take into account the three decades trauma of the sufferers in the J&K state. He added, “Kashmir in particular needs to get rid of terror and its side effects, the seven decade old family feudal politics, radicalisation of society, the spate of death and mayhem and the mind-set that has brought havoc to everything that belonged to it. Unrealistic and absurd ideology that brings destruction is no alternative to place things at the right places. Peace is all that needs to be pursued and elimination of terrorism is incidental to the establishment of peace. Kashmir’s curses need to vanish and vanish forever, so every individual has a role to play with a sense of belonging. It beckons us all to do our duties to the satisfaction of the progeny to follow both in Kashmir and outside Kashmir”.(CNS)
