Forty-year-old militancy victim Rakesh Pandita could do little to hide an emotional surge when he was gifted the keys to a new residential apartment here.
Internally displaced J&K Pandits get housing as migrants refuse to return
SHEIKHPORA-BUDGAM (Kashmir): Forty-year-old militancy victim Rakesh Pandita could do little to hide an emotional surge when he was gifted the keys to a new residential apartment here. Pandita’s family was forced to flee from their Sangrampora village to Budgam town in 1997 after his father Avatar Krishan, along with seven other Hindus, was mowed down by suspected militants in one of the most gruesome massacres in the valley.
Since then, Pandita has been living in a cramped migrant house without basic facilities. But like others, he did not migrate to Jammu, preferring instead to stay in Budgam with other pandits who were settled in such ‘safe houses’ by the government.
“I still remember the day when militants arrived and asked the men to come out of their homes on the night of March 21, 1997. My father and seven others were assembled in a nearby field and fired on indiscriminately. Seven people died on the spot and one suffered injuries, leaving him disabled for life,” recalls Pandita.
Eleven years on, Pandita is bubbling with happiness as he finally has a house to live in. “We left everything-house, orchards and other assets-when we evacuated. Now we have something to cheer about because we have a roof over our heads,” he said.
Pandita is among 31 displaced Kashmiri Hindu families who were handed over keys of new flats constructed by J&K government here.
The Sheikhpora Township was constructed for Kashmiri migrant pandits during Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s rule. He had been trying to settle migrant pandtis in these flats to restore confidence among the minority community.
So far they have met with little success on that front and therefore it was decided to shift the internally displaced migrants.
“We did want to give some flats to internally displaced persons, but we will be more than glad if migrant pandits too decide to return and stay in these flats,” said Mehboob Iqbal, divisional commissioner Kashmir.
Kashmiri Pandit Sangrish Simiti (KPSS), an apex organisation of pandits living in the valley, has welcomed the decision to settle internally displaced people in these flats. “It is a very good gesture because these pandits were living in dilapidated conditions,” said Sanjay K Tickoo, president of the KPSS.
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net
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