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| Kashmiri Pandits not Indians, say those denying shops in INA market New Delhi | | Union Home Ministry seeks report | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Feb 22: In what could be termed as blatant act of discrimination, Kashmiri Pandit migrant traders are being denied allotment of shops in INA market New Delhi on the grounds that they are not Indians.
It is not a gossip but a serious reality which has sent shock waves in the community which got displaced in the aftermath of arrival of militancy in Kashmir valley. If the Parliamentary Standing Committee report is to be believed, traders in New Delhi have begun finding ways and means of throwing Kashmiri Pandits out of the shops which had been allotted to them after they left Valley in 1990 and thereafter.
There are complaints that those who have been alloted shops are being forced to vacate by not providing them adequate electricity and water facilities. Though Union Home Ministry has taken note of this grave charge and sought status report from New Delhi government but action is yet to be initiated against guilty. This blatant discrimination has found mention in 179th report of the action taken by the union government on the recommendations contained in 137th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants.
The report was presented in the two Houses of the Parliament on February 19, 2014. A copy of the report is with Early Times. Committee headed by senior BJP Leader M. Venkaiah Naidu includes one of the key aides of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Janardan Dwivedi and many others Congress and BJP leaders. Committee has expressed displeasure and said that the pretext given that Kashmiri Migrants are not Indians for not allocating shops in INA market is highly objectionable.
It has asked the Union Home Ministry to look into the complaint and initiate action against people involved in such blatant discrimination. When asked by the committee, Union Home Ministry said that on its directions, New Delhi government discussed the issue in the nodal cell meeting held on August 30, 2013. A status report in the matter was sought from the concerned agencies. The same is yet to be submitted.
Committee has further stated in its report that shopkeepers who were allotted some shops in INA had been removed. And when the matter was taken up with the New Delhi Government, Union Home Ministry was informed that 36 Kashmiri Migrants were removed from INA Super Bazar due to construction of elevated road over Barapulla Nallah. They had requested for rehabilitation to alternate Tehbazari sites of 7ftx8ft size, the government said.
It added that commissioner of Municipal Council Delhi (MCD) approved the same by relaxing the rules/policy in the matter. After the draw to assign stall number, Kashmiri Migrants were asked to submit the requisite documents for processing the matter further. Kashmiri Samiti had submitted documents in respect of 30 Migrants only, said the New Delhi government.
On this, Committee desired that action in regard to rehabilitation of displaced shopkeepers from the migrant community in INA market, New Delhi be taken on priority basis. They further said that people from the migrant community who have left their native places due to conditions beyond their control should not face undue delays in the allotment of Stalls.
The committee has vehemently recommended that the pretext given that Kashmiri Migrants are not Indians for not allocating shops in INA market is highly objectionable and the complaint should be looked into seriously. "Action may be initiated against people involved in such blatant discrimination," the committee has recommended vociferously. |
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