Kashmiri Pandits lambast Congress Spokesperson’s statement;call him a ‘separatist spokesperson

New Delhi,January 24 (Vijay Kumar) – Roots In Kashmir, a frontline global youth initiative of Kashmiri Pandits on Sunday condemned statement of Congress Spokesperson Manish Tiwari stating that Kashmiri Pandits were driven out of the valley in 1990 due to "fear psychosis of Governor Jagmohan". On Saturday , during a news debate (Big Fight on NDTV) on Constitutional reforms when a panelist raised the issue of forced exodus of Pandits due to terrorism and failure of the Indian Constitution to protect them; Manish Tiwari intervened and said ‘we should know the real reason why Pandits left, which was due to fear psychosis of then Governor Jagmohan’.

“To escape persecution, more than 5,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits had to leave their home and hearths back in the valley, of which more than 50,000 refugees are still languishing in uninhabitable refugee camps in Jammu” said RIK Chief Coordinator Sanjay Peshin in a statement.

“Then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah of National Conference (NC), had abandoned his responsibilities and the administration, the state and people lay like cattle on an open road. It was Governor Jagmohan who ensured safety for the minority Pandits who were selectively being targeted by terrorist groups Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Hizbul Mujahideen” he added.

Three taped slogans which were repeatedly being played the whole night (19th January 1990) from mosques: ‘Kashmir mei agar rehna hai, Allah-o-Akbar kehna hai’ (If you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-o-Akbar); ‘Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa’ (What do we want here? Rule of Sharia’h); ‘Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san’ (We want Pakistan along with Hindu women but without their men).

The statement of the Congress Spokesperson has hurt the Pandit community which completed two decades in exile on 19th January, 2010. Manish Tiwari certainly needs a crash course in the history of Kashmir. It pains us more to know that the statement comes from a person whose father Prof. V.N. Tiwari was killed in the 1984 riots. Would he have tolerated mockery of his father’s killing?

The illogical and mindless statement comes under the shadow of ‘Quiet Diplomacy’. We Kashmiri Pandits wonder if Manish Tiwari has changed colours and is a ‘separatist spokesperson’! An entire community uprooted from the land of their ancestors is today struggling for its identity. The weak-kneed Indian state shamelessly panders to Islamic terrorists and separatists who claim they are the final arbiters of Jammu and Kashmir’s destiny.

Panun Kashmir, the frontline Pandit organisation demanding separate homeland; also came heavily on the statement of Congress Spokesperson calling it a ‘shame’ and ‘mockery of democracy’. Dr. Agnishekhar, Convenor, Panun Kashmir, said Pandits will protest this statement in public and demand an apology from the Congress leader.

www.scoopnews.in