Kashmiri Pandits mark 30 years of exodus in Jammu

Jammu, Jan 19 (IANS) The Kashmiri Pandits marked 30 years of exodus from the Valley with a protest, led by the All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, at the residence of Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, here on Sunday.The government should make it conducive for their return to the Valley, they demanded. "We want to return to our roots, to the land of Lalleshwari and Sheikh ul-Alam," said Kuldeep Pandit, a protestor.A memorandum was also presented to the L-G. Sunil Pandit, originally from Handwara, said his family had shifted to different locations in Jammu since the migration. In 1990 after migration, his family was staying at Geeta Bhawan, here. Later, they shifted to Chadha and stayed at the Purkhu migrants' camp. Now he is living at the Jagti township. Sunil said political parties were just playing politics on the issue of return of Pandits. "We demand one-time settlement for Pandits and punishment for those who committed crimes causing their migration," he said. More than 400,000 Pandits migrated from Kashmir after eruption of militancy. Most of them are living in migrants camps. However, they are hopeful that one day they would return to their roots and culture.
--IANS zi/rs/pcj