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| KP food festival: Cruel joke with displaced community | | Can a family which gets Rs 2500 monthly, afford Rs 600? | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 15: The much hyped Kashmir Pandit food festival organized by Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department for Kashmiri Pandits living in Jammu has evoked sharp response from the displaced community.
"Our properties and temples have been turned into a graveyard in Kashmir Valley. They have been vandalized, occupied and snatched from us. Our entire culture has been ruined. We cannot understand what government wants to prove by holding the food festival," said Rajesh Raina, who migrated to Jammu from south Kashmir in 1990.
"Our orchards were vandalized. Trees were cut, paddy fields were destroyed and houses were burnt after our forced exodus from the Valley," he added.
Another migrant Kashmir Pandit said, "The Tourism department has priced Wazwan thali at Rs 600/. We want to ask them how can migrant family, which gets Rs 2500/ as monthly stipend from the government afford to pay Rs 600/ for relishing so-called food-festival for KPs. Tourism department is adding insult to our injuries."
He said, "If the Tourism department really wanted to do something for us they could have prized the thali reasonably and held it at some migrant camp. It's just meant for the elite people not for the displaced KPs."
He said, "During the past 18-years of exodus we have lost our culture, identity and our existence. We were small community and today we stand displaced. The successive regimes have failed to rehabilitate us. They should offer this food to the politicians and others who have been befooling us on the name of resettling us in Kashmir."
Another Kashmiri Pandit said, "Jammu and Kashmir government has even failed to save our heritage sites in the Valley. Now they want to lure us by offering food that too at an exorbitant price. What a joke!"
"Food festival has no takers from the community as by cutting the roots of community and watering the leaves can't convince any saner element from the community that Government was really concerned for the welfare of the community whose problems have complied for years together," said Rakesh Koul president Sampooran Kashmir Sangathan.
Koul said during last 28 years the successive governments failed to take a bold stand on return and rehabilitation of displaced Pandits.
He wanted to know what happened to M L Koul Committee report given way back in nineties.
Koul said likewise what happened to PM return package announced by Dr Manmohan Singh in 2008.
He said out of 6000 posts for migrant youth announced by then PM Dr Manmohan Singh in 2008 only 2800 Posts we're fulfilled fulfilled in last ten years, he added.
He said how long KP youth have to wait for a government job, said Nana Ji Raina, adding majority of youth who were eligible for Government job in 2008 to have become overaged in the last one decade.
The problems of displaced Pandits are compounding day by day but the successive governments failed to redress them as the community does not constitute a vote bank, he said, adding the government failed to release the balance exgratia of damaged houses of the community and other property damaged in turmoil.
He said the dilly-dallying tactics of successive governments in passage of Kashmiri Hindu shrines and temples bill is the cause of concern for community, he added.
Every Government since 2002 assured passage of bill but played politics on the floor oh Assembly to sabotage the bill.
The people from backward areas of Valley were deprived backward status just to debar community youth in seeking a Government job, said Shadi Lal Pandita of Jagti Coordination Committee.
He said this is a conspiracy against the community to add to it's miseries.
In last 28 years the doors in State Government services were closed for us when lakhs of people were given Government job over the years. He said community was also befooled on the name of health insurance by the Government as no headway was made in this regard.
Moreover no steps were taken by Government to encroached land and other property of Pandits or their religious places from the land mafia, he added.
Pandita said hence holding food festival is nothing but to adding salt to the scars of community. |
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