news details |
|
|
| Kashmiri Pandits: A community divided even in exile | | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
In distress they are divided.In exile they stand segregated.This in short the story of the displaced families from the Kashmir valley.Whether in Jammu or in Delhi,where they are leading a life of refugees,these inernally displaced Pandits have formed several organisations.As if this was not enough even in the camps whether in Muthi or Mishriwalla there are more than three camp organisations.The cause for which they have been fighting since 1990,when over 3.50 lakh Pandits fled the valley following the rise of militancy,is one but the ways for fighting for it are different.They air one demand but they do it in many voices.And a new division among the Pandit bodies is likely to surface with the Assembly elections drawing near.The Jammu and Kashmir National United Front(JKNUF),headed by A.K.Dewani,has announced that the Front would contest 15 seats.The idea is not bad.But it is bad if this plan comes in the way of Pandits desiring to get a couple of their representatives elected to the Assembly.
For decades Pandits have not been able to get their reperesentative elected to the Assembly.They had a chance to do it in the Habba Kadal constituency of Srinagar where the Pandits had a sizeable number of voters.What had gone wrong ?Whenever any Pandit candidate was in a position to win he or she had to face defeat because of the presence of more than two Pandits in the field.A senior BJP leader,late Tika Lal Tapiloo,could have got elected twice from the Habba Kadal constituency but both times fellows belonging to his community scuttled his chance of victory when more than one Pandit candidate had filed the nomination papers. On one occasion his victory was snatched by Dr Jagat Mohini who also had jumped into the poll fray.Yes,some Pandits were elected to the Assembly only when they were fielded either by the Congress or by the National Conference.Late P.L.Handoo,former Law Minister,was elected to the Assembly on a number of times only when he had been fielded by the National Conference. If this has been the situation prior to the 1990 exodus one cannot expect any Pandit candidate to get elected unless he receives the support from any mainstream political party or he has the backing from the voters of the majority community.In the light of these developments Dewani's announcement has the potential of harming some heavy weights among the Pandits who plan to contest the election.It is because Dewani has made this announcement unilaterally.Had he taken other Pandit bodies into confidence the Pandits could field candidates through consensus.
Possibly Dewani does not know that a number of Pandit leaders were going to contest as nominess of one or the other political party .H.L. Chatha has a plan to contest from Habba Kadal as candidate from All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference.The Conference has a plan of fielding three to four candidates in other constituencies. In Habba Kadal Vijay Bakaya,a former Chief Secretary, is likely to be the nominee of National Conference. Asok Bhan may be the congress candidate from Habba Kadal. Raman Mattoo, who had won the Habba Kadal seat in 2002,has not yet disclosed his cards. Pandits have a chance to see some of their candidates get elected if the ensuing election registers very poor polling percentage. It was because of the poor polling percentage that Raman Mattoo had won from Habba Kadal seat in 2002 election when he received support from Pandit voters in Jammu. Dewani should also understand that even in exile Pandits are supporters of the Congress, the National Conference, the PDP and the BJP. Can all these Pandit bodies come under one umbrella and select half a dozen candidates for the election ?If it is done one could expect a couple of seats for the minority community. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
