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| Tiwari's remarks on Pandit exodus cause embarrassment to Congress in J&K | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, January 25 :-The statement of the Congress spokesman,Manish Tiwari,on the factors that were responsible for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in 1990 has caused deep embarrassment among the senior functionaries of the state unit of the Congress.Number of Congress leaders today admitted "we feel embarrassed by Tiwari's remarks."
They said that Tiwari had stated that Kashmiri Pandits were driven out of the valley in 1990 due to the fear psychosis of the then Governor,Jagmohan,which they said was totally wrong.One leader said that the PCC Chief,Saif-ud-Din Soz,would be requested to take up the matter with Tiwari and clear the misgivings. The Congress leaders said that the security scenario and the political situation in kashmir in 1990 were so critical that it was beyond the control of Jagmohan to check exodus.They said had Jagmohan prevented Pandits from migrating from Kashmir terrorists would have killed several thousand of the community people.In support of their contention they referred to the Wandhama carnage which was carried out by the terrorists in 1998 and in this incident 23 pandits were killed.Even Sangrampora carnage too was carried out years after the exodus.
In fact soon after Tiwari's remarks were telecast by one news television channel enraged Pandits started sending SMSs to the community people suggesting to them to air their resentment against Tiwari and the Congress.This correspondent received more than 50 SMSs betwen 6 P.M. and 10.30 P.M. on Sunday.Reports said that most of the SMSs emanated from Jammu and New Delhi.The SMS,that remained in circulation,read "attention congress spokesperson Tiwari on NDTV 24x7 big fight which says pandits met exodus due to fear psychosis of GovernorJagmohan not terrorists.It is mockery of 20 years of our exile.please lodge protest.condemn him..."
Number of leaders belonging to various Pandit organisations bitterly criticised Tiwari's remarks.Chairman Panun Kashmir,Dr Ajay Chrungoo,said that Tiwari should understand that the exodus of over 3.50 lakh Pandits from the valley in 1990 was the result of a well conceived plan of carrying out ethni cleansing in Kashmir.He aid by the time the community was forced to migrate from the valley,he added,more than 450 Pandits,including women,had been killed in different parts of Kashmir.
Chrungoo said even after the genocide carried out by the terrorists over 17,000 Pandits had stayed put.He said at present there were not more than 3,000 Pandits in the valley which indicated that the terrorists wanted to fully implement the ethnic clansing plan.Senior leader of All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference,H.L.Chatha,said that over the years a sustained campaign has been launched by the vested interest against Jagmohan.He said it was totally wrong and baseless to blame Jagmohan for engineering the exodus.
Chatha and Chrungoo stated that in 1990 there were limited security personnel in Kashmir and they could not insulate scattered Pandits against terrorist attacks and that too when the police force had been totally demoralised and disoriented.They and some congress leaders said that Tiwari should have first of all discussed th issue with the state party leaders or updated his knowledge before commiting a faux pas.
The leaders of the state unit of the BJP wanted Tiwari to apologise to the Pandit community.They said instead of discussing factors that led to the exodus of Pandits from the valley Tiwari should persuade top party leaders to initiate steps for ameliorating the lot of Kashmiri migrants and other migrants in the state
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