Apr 11 , 2015
News
Clashes in IHK as India plans to build towns to resettle Hindus
*Under the plan, townships will be built on land acquired from farmers and will have schools, shopping malls, hospitals and playgroundsSRINAGAR: Indian police Friday fired dozens of teargas shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse demonstrators protesting Indian government’s plans to build separate colonies for Kashmiri Hindus, witnesses said.
The demonstration was led by Yasin Malik, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
Clashes broke out after huge contingents of Indian police and paramilitary detained Malik to prevent him and his supporters from marching in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-occupied Kashmir, after the Friday prayers.
Several Kashmiri Pandits besides some Hindu priests were accompanying Malik, who sees government’s plan as an effort to change demography of the region as well as a bid to divide Kashmiris on the communal lines.
“I am not opposed to the return of pandits (Kashmiri Hindus) but they should not be ghettoized. By creating separate clusters for pundits, you are creating walls of hatred,” Malik told reporters ahead of the demonstration. “In Palestine, the Jews and Muslims are killing each other. We don’t want such an environment. Let them live the way other pandit brothers and sisters are living here.”
On Tuesday, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked region’s Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed to provide land for ‘composite townships’ for Kashmiri Hindus, to which he readily agreed.
However, the move was opposed by the opposition and separatist groups, who asked people to stage protests and observe shutdown on Saturday against the decision.
Though Sayeed later on denied any plans to resettle Kashmiri Hindus in separate towns, his coalition partner - Bhartiya Janta Party ( BJP) - said they officially support separate homeland for the Hindus.
In 1989, a large portion of Hindu community migrated from Muslim majority areas of the region to Jammu city (the winter capital of region) and northern states of India after an armed insurgency challenging New Delhi’s rule broke out in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
According to officials, 219 Kashmiri Hindus were killed in the region from 1989 to 2004. However, from 2004 onwards no Hindu killing was reported.
Just a month ago, the BJP took control of the Kashmir government in alliance with a regional partner - the first time the Hindu nationalist party has been in power in the state. This week, the state government unveiled a plan to set up self-contained, heavily guarded colonies for Hindus who fled their homes and are now living elsewhere in India or overseas.
Under the plan, the townships will be built on land acquired from farmers and will have schools, shopping malls, hospitals and playgrounds, the government said. No details about how much land will be acquired and when any construction will start were immediately available.
Kashmir’s main separatist alliance said the BJP was using the plight of the displaced people to further an agenda of ending Kashmir’s special status. Under current laws, non-Kashmiris are not allowed to own land in the state.
“The issue of Pandits is being used to create a state within the state on the lines of Israel,” said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a top leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Many Kashmiri Pandits said they were not sure about the government’s plan to move them back.
“It will make Pandits vulnerable. Under such circumstances nobody will come back,” said Sanjay Tickoo, president of a Kashmiri Pandit association. He accused the government of thrusting the plan on the Pandits.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk