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| Kashmiri Samiti Delhi stirs up criticsKashmiri Samiti Delhi stirs up criticsKashmiri Samiti Delhi stirs up critics | | Why permanent settlement of KPs outside J&K? | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 14: Considering itself as the nodal agency of the 'uprooted' Kashmiri Pandits (KPs), the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi (KSD) has stirred a host of enemies within the much-publicised Kashmiri Pandit community by making public its re-structured plan, seeking the government of India to start rehabilitation process of Kashmiri Pandits "outside J&K". Dr LN Dhar is the president of the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi. He seems to have either ignored or underestimated effectiveness of the KSD's critics in some other KP groups and organisations in Delhi and elsewhere in the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, at the time of issuing a press release in support of the KPs' rehabilitation "outside J&K".
Nor is it all. The KSD under Dr Dhar's presidentship has also demanded that steps be initated for "permanent setlement of Kashmiri Pandits in Delhi". Clearly, what has purturbed the KSD's critics is that Dr Dhar has not mentioned anything about the KPs residing outside Delhi--majority of them in Jammu sector. Significantly, Kashmir Opinions, an English publication from Delhi owned and edited by HL Mujoo, a Kashmiri migrant, has taken the lead while taking on the leadership of the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi.
The publication cannot be faulted when it argues that the demand for steps to settle the KPs in Delhi is in sharp contrast to the hitherto articulated stand that the 'uprooted' Kashmiri Pandits are for a separate homeland within Kashmir Valley. Again, Kashmir Opinions fortnightly is not off the mark as it says that the demand should be only for KPs in Delhi is intriguing, if not provocative. And the publication has a specific question for the KSD chief: Does it sugest that KPs living in Jammu and other parts (outside Delhi) are for their return to the Valley?
This apart, the publication has also lambasted, in subdued manner, though, the present leadership of the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi for its hasty moves without any detailed discussions or consultations with other KP leaders and groupings. Why should the KSD think only of Kashmiri Pandits in Delhi when it (KSD) when, accccording to Kashmir Opinions, it has been "in the forefront of of the KP struggle for survival". And the warning: the KSD's move will further divide the already divided community of Kashmiri Pandits.
Equally important issue brought to the fore by the publication is that of the divergent standpoints of the two KP organisations--Kashmiri Samiti Delhi and All-India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS). Both of them are headquartered at Delhi. There is, to quote Kashmir Opinions, "an unanounced but fully palpable competition" between the two organisations to garner public approbation for getting the jobs done--be it the case of migrant teachers, the tehbazari title holders, the admissions in variouys universities in Delhi and outside. AIKS, a conglomeration of over 40 KP groups, is headed by MK Kaw, a former Secretary in the Union Human Resource Development Ministry (HRD).
If it were unity of action and of purpose, then the KSD and AIKS would have scurpulously avoided pursuing the same matter jointly. Instead, the two organisations have, on more than one occasion, been found separately tackling the issues concerning the members of their community. Such an exercise is much to the amusement of the authorites they deal with. Does this game of one-upmanship augur well for the beleaguered members of the Kashmiri Pandit comunity?
The Kashmiri Samiti Delhi continues to bring out its largely-circulated monthly publication, Koshur Samachar, while the AIKS' journal is Naad. The KSD and the AIKS may differ with each other on some issues but their respective publications perform a complimentary role in presenting a whole picture of the comunity of Kashmiri Pandits.
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