Row over govt’s plan to build ‘composite townships’ for Kashmiri pandits

A row has erupted over government’s plan to create “composite townships” for displaced Kashmiri pandits in Kashmir valley.

Government’s move has been met with strong opposition from several parties and separatists in the state.

While National Conference said the move will be dangerous for integrity of state and country, separatist leader Yasin Malik said a separate colony on the basis of religion will only build walls of hate, like in Israel.

J&K chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during his meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday had assured that the state government will acquire and provide land at the earliest for composite townships for displaced Kashmiri pandit migrants in the valley.

National Conference leader Ali Mohd Sagar slammed the state government for the move calling it ‘dangerous for the country’.

“People in India talk of composite culture; composite culture means that people with different faiths can live together,” Yasin Malik said threatening to launch an agitation against the government’s proposed move.

“Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits live happily here. What fire are the CM and the RSS are playing with by saying they will build separate colony for Kashmiri pandits,” Yasin Malik asked.

However, PDP leader Naeem Akhtar defended the plan and said, “Government is bound to bring back Kashmiri pandits who are a part of our life with honour and dignity.”

At present, there are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in the country, who have moved from the valley to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country after the state was rocked by militancy in 1989.