copy of press brief of Panun Kashmir Movement

The Panun Kashmir Movement (PKM) expresses deep concern over the recent developments that took place for the last two months within and outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is noteworthy that the government of India has taken some measures relating to the tackling of the menace of terrorism in India as a semblance of its response to the terror plans unleashed by the terror structures within and outside the country. While the government of India is persistently asking Pakistan to hand over the agents and forces responsible for terrorism in Mumbai so that they are brought to justice, it is strange that the State of India has failed to bring to justice the perpetrators of terrorism and genocide of the minorities in Kashmir. The advocates of Islamic terrorism have already built political and other important structures around the core of terrorism and communal apartheid in Kashmir and continue to monopolize the socio-political sphere in one form or the other. The Kashmiri Pandit community has been cautioning the nation about terrorism in Kashmir and its fall-out on the nation over the last two decades. Kashmir continues to be the gateway of terrorism in India and the terror attacks in the rest of India should not be seen or tackled in isolation. The contours of terrorism and its fundamentalist ideology can be ignored only at the peril of the national interests and the security of the people of the Indian nation.

The issues of return and resettlement of the Kashmiri Pandit community in Kashmir are the most important political issues for the community and the nation. Any linkage of this political issue with the issues of livelihood is tantamount to exploiting the miseries of the people living in exile. There can be no relationship between the resettlement of the community in Kashmir with the employment of its youth. Such a linkage is not only a direct human rights violation of the people living in exile but a stark attack on the dignity of the community as a whole. The Kashmiri Pandit community has already rejected the return packages announced earlier by the successive governments. Employing coercive methods to implement the so-called return plan by the authorities will always prove counter-productive and face a very stiff opposition and revolt by the community. Terrorism is much bigger an issue than being a state subject, it is an issue of national concern. Since Kashmiri Pandits are the victims of terrorism, the State government cannot unilaterally decide their issue of resettlement. Unless the factors responsible for the ethnic cleansing and exodus of the community from Kashmir are reversed and the terror structures completely destroyed, talk of return is simply obnoxious. Kashmiri Pandits have already made known to the world their desire to resettle in Kashmir once Homeland with free flow of Indian constitution for them is established on the north and east of river Jehlum in Kashmir. The PKM is deeply committed to this cause of the community. We also express our deep resolve to remain united and firm on this issue with all those who have their faith in and commitment to Margdarshan Resolution of 1991 which has withstood the test of time since its inception.