Under intense pressure from opposition parties and separatists, the PDP-led government of Jammu and Kashmir has clarified that it does not plan to create colonies for Kashmiri Pandits.
The Chief Minister had earlier said that the state government would soon acquire land for creating ‘composite townships’ for Kashmiri Pandits.
Major opposition political parties and separatists groups had earlier slammed the move of the state government to create separate townships for Kashmiri Pandits.
The reactions came a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to identify land for creating townships for 62,000 displaced Pandit families.
We will not allow the government to build separate settlements for Kashmiri pandits. This is an Israeli ploy and the RSS has taken inspiration from that. They want to create walls of hatred here, spread fire and divide the people. Why cannot the Pandits return to their ancestral properties and settle there? We have no issues with that.
—Yasin Malik, JKLF Chairman
Speaking to the media, Yasin Malik also said that separate colonies on the basis of religion would create hatred.
Most Kashmiri Pandits had left the state at the onset of militancy in the early 1990s.
Independent MLA Engineer Rashid said, “we will we will not tolerate a separate township for the Pandit community”.
Kashmiri Pandits are welcome to return to their native places and live peacefully with Muslims as they have been living for centuries, but we will not allow the creation of another Gaza within Kashmir.
— Engineer Rashid, Independent MLA
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