Even as the issue of Kashmiri pandits in the valley remains raw, the Mehbooba Mufti-led government on May 10 issued a controversial notice, asking the exiled Kashmiri pandit pilgrims to "give consent" before undertaking pilgrimages to the holy shrines in the terror-plagued valley. However, following an uproar on Monday, wherein the government was accused of "imposing permit system" to visiting shrines, the order was revoked and the officer in question was shunted out. A high-level probe has also been ordered into the fiasco.
The controversy erupted after KK Sidda, deputy commissioner (relief) in the office of Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner at Jammu issued a notice, asking the Kashmiri migrants undertaking the pilgrimage to Mata Kheer Bhawani at Tulmulla (June 19) and Tikker/Mazgam (June 18) to provide their consent to the concerned zonal officer or camp commandant by of before May 20.
"They are creating a permit system for indigenous people who are the aboriginals of the valley. Because we are not living there, doesn't mean we have left Kashmir," said Ashwani Chrungoo, President Panun Kashmir, an organization of migrant Kashmiri pandits. Vinod Pandit, chairman of All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee, who pioneered opening of several closed temples and shrines in the valley, sought chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's intervention to investigate the matter.
The government immediately relieved the officer in question and ordered a probe into the issue. "I sincerely and honestly regret it. I take full responsibility as a minister though I am not aware. Kashmiri pandits are sons of soil and they neither need to register nor should they be scrutinised," said Javaid Mustafa Mir, J&K Minister for Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Disaster Management.
Sidha, however, justified the order and said they just wanted the data to making necessary arrangements. "If we have accurate data, we can make adequate arrangements for transportation, accommodation, sanitation, medical and food. It is not mandatory," he said.
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