Hope to return home, see shrines restored, say Kashmiri Pandits
JAMMU: Forced to leave Kashmir at the height of militancy over three decades ago, nearly 10,000 Kashmiri Pandits on Wednesday exercised their franchise in the first phase of the Jammu & Kashmir elections, with a hope that they would one day return to their homes in the Valley.
According to relief and rehabilitation commissioner for migrants Arvind Karwani, more than 35,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits from across the country were eligible to vote at 24 polling stations. At least 9,597 members of the community cast their votes in 16 constituencies of south Kashmir’s Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts.
Besides Kashmir, several migrant votersJammu registered in Udhampur participated in the electoral process at a polling station. Likewise, migrant voters registered in Delhi exercised their franchise across four polling booths.
“I voted today with the hope that the new government will resolve the long-pending issues of the Pandit community by returning our property, orchards and land,” PL Tickoo, who belongs to Batmaloo in Shopian but currently resides in Jammu Tawi, said.
“As part of the mass exodus of the Pandits in the 1990s, I moved to Jammu with my family. My eldest son was shot dead by terrorists at the Shopian bus stand. We had to flee in the middle of the night.”
Many in the community feel that political parties have failed to address their concerns and called for urgent action on their longstanding issues of unemployment and housing. “We have become accustomed to empty assurances, and it seems that political leaders see us merely as voters,” a member of the community said, seeking anonymity.