Naya Kashmir to have 10 special townships for Kashmiri Pandits

By Kashmir Age Online On Feb 19, 2020

In Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir), ten special townships will be created in all the 10 districts of the Valley for the resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to undergo mass exodus 30 years ago.

According to news agency IANS, the blueprint of Naya Kashmir is going to get its shape soon as the final touches are done. The blueprint will comprise the renovation and rebuilding of temples destroyed and desecrated by terrorists in all the 10 districts.

The Union Home Ministry has started working on the plan, which includes many rehabilitation schemes for Kashmiri Pandits.

Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee from Kashmir valley to Jammu and other states in the early 90s soon after the outbreak of militancy in the state.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah met a seven-member delegation of Kashmiri Pandits on February 18. The delegation included Surinder Kaul, International Coordinator of Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD); Utpal Kaul, GKPD India Coordinator; Anil Kachroo, GKPD USA; Taj Tikoo, President of the All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS); Dileep Mattoo, President Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM); and AJKVM members Sanjay Ganjoo and Parikshit Kaul, said the report.

In the meeting, Shah promised them rehabilitation via phased resettlement in the Valley amid adequate security.

Shah promised to resettle all Kashmiri Pandits in their respective districts, Kaul told the news agency.

He conveyed that rehabilitation of the community was an utmost priority with the government. He sought help from them to compile a database of all the properties that had been either occupied or encroached upon so that the government could initiate redressal mechanisms to restore the property to the rightful owner, the members of the delegation were quoted as saying.