Kashmiri Pandit township issue can't be influenced by separatists

"I will not be able to spell out the details of the policy because nothing is finalized yet. The consultation process is going on and the state government of Jammu and Kashmir and Ministry of Home Affairs, we all have to come together and take a call.”  Union Minister said.

It had to be in the interest of the state, interest of the people only. So, he could not spell out till things were finally decided, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.

The Union Minister maintained he cannot make a statement just on the basis of the preliminary work.

Referring to separatists' call for a shutdown on Saturday against the proposal of separate settlements of Pandits, the Union Minister cited there were elements in the state who wanted to create problems for the country.

In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Rijiju added, "We cannot be influenced by people working at the diktat of the outsiders and all. Anybody indigenous of Jammu and Kashmir, we are Indian citizens, we have to talk to each other. Dialogue and discussion is the process."

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Leaders will keep promise of Shrines Bill passage: Kashmiri Pandits

"We hope the leaders (of various political parties) will fulfill their promise of (passage of) Kashmir temples and Shrine Bill," Dr R L Bhat, the chief spokesman of Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust (PNBMT) said on Thursday.

He said though the report has not collated the opinion of its members and has attached them as such it is clear that there was total consensus that the bill should be passed immediately.

   

The tabling of the report by the chairman points to it. The report shows that of the seven members, excluding the chairman who participated in the Select Committee meetings and whose written notes were attached to it, three wanted a few shrines to be kept out of the bill while the other four favoured all shrines and temples to be included in the bill.

   

"In fact, the report as it is shows clearly that the major opinion of the Select Committee has been for passing the bill without any restriction of its ambit or dilution of its provisions," Bhat said, adding this is what the Hindus of Kashmir have been demanding.

They are for a transparent, elected Shrine Board so that the temples and shrines are brought under the collective management in which all Hindus of Kashmir, without any division or distinction, shall have full and equal rights to vote and be elected.

"PNBMT believes that collective demand of the displaced Hindus has been registered by the government as well as the opposition," he said, adding that the community has shown collective will and unity of purpose pursuing this consensus demand.

"We believe that the support expressed by the political parties and opinion leaders of the state to the larger objective of the collective mechanism for the protection, preservation and management of the temples and shrines shall be translated into the passage of the bill, as promised by the government," he said.

(Agencies)

Source: Breaking News