Kashmiri Pandits are like ‘refugees’ in own country, word migrant is insulting: GKPD

Jammu, Dec 22: Asserting that the word ‘migrants’ is insulting for the community, Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) have alleged that Kashmiri Pandits are like ‘refugees’ in their own country.

“Kashmiri Pandits, the indigenous people of Kashmir with more than five thousand years of history in the valley, are internal refugees in their own country as per the revised definitions by the UN,” Dr Chowdhury, the Diaspora Chairman here told reporters.

He however, said that the word ‘migrant’ was repugnant, reprehensible and insulting to the bruised sensibilities of the community adding that it was a nefarious ploy by the State Government to deny and deprive them of their just rights.

Dr Chowdhury further said that GKPD is a global initiative that includes every Kashmiri Pandit uprooted from their homeland in Kashmir and added, “GKPD connotes the collective consciousness of the Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide perpetrated on Kashmiri Pandits that led to their wide dispersal and Diaspora.
The body is an umbrella identity for all Pandits, and a platform for unity of purpose and action”