Mehbooba Mufti Calls For All-inclusive Effort To Ensure Early Resettlement Of Kashmiri Pandits in Valley

This was her first formal meeting with the Lieutenant Governor since the collapse of her coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in June 2018. Mufti has been vocal against the Centre’s August 5, 2019 move of stripping J&K of its special status and splitting it up into two Union territories.

In November 2019, the PDP had expelled Rajya Sabha member Nazir Ahmad Laway from the basic membership of the party for attending the swearing-in ceremony of J&K’s first Lt Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu, Laway was accused of undermining the party's stand. PDP had said that his participation in the event was in contravention to the party's stand regarding the revocation of J&K's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.

While speaking to a select group of reporters here after her meeting with the Lt. Governor, Mufti said that time has come for the Valley’s majority community to supplement the effort of bringing back the Kashmiris Pandits with dignity and without any fear. She said, “Mufti (Muhammad Sayeed) Sahab (former chief minister and PDP patron) was always serious in seeing the return of Kashmiri Pandits. The PDP has made the return of the Pandits with dignity and without any fear part of its agenda. This task can’t be performed by the government alone, the people too will have to join it.”

She added, “The big charge against Kashmiri Muslims is that they couldn’t save the Kashmiri Pandits (when the militany erupted in the Valley in 1989-90). If we all play a role in bringing them back, it will happen. I think nothing is impossible. We all must work towards their dignified return.”

The former chief minister said that, during her meeting with the Lt. Governor, she emphasized the need for a dignified return and rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, advocating for an all-stakeholder approach to ensure inclusive policies. She said the Kashmiri Pandits also need to be empowered politically for which reservation for them was imperative. “I told him to convey to the Centre to ensure two assembly constituencies are reserved for them instead of nominations for them,” she said.

She said that the reintegration of Kashmiri Pandits into the Valley’s society must not be viewed merely as a symbolic return, but as an opportunity to build a shared, inclusive and forward-looking future for J&K. “The return of Kashmiri Pandits is not merely a demographic or administrative concern but stands as a matter of historical justice, reconciliation and the restoration of Kashmir’s pluralistic ethos,” she asserted.

She said that she proposed to the Lt. Governor that every displaced Kashmiri Pandit family should be allotted half-a-kanal (approximately 2,750 sq. ft) of state land in their district of origin, contingent upon their willingness to return. She said that the families whose original homes still exist, but are in dilapidated or semi-damaged condition, should be provided targeted financial grants or interest-free loans for structural repairs and modernisation.

Mufti said that the upcoming Amarnath Yatra also came up for discussion during the meeting and that she urged the inclusion of Kashmiri Muslims into its conduct to promote harmony and communal peace. She said that members of the Valley’s majority community have always helped in the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage and she wanted that they should be formally made a part of the official process. She said this request aligns with her broader advocacy for inclusive policies in the region.

The PDP leader said that she, while emphasizing broader issues of public welfare and reconciliation, also demanded the release of political prisoners in J&K. “I demanded that those having no serious charges should be released in view of the Eid-ul-Azha (falling on June 7) and those languishing in different jails should be brought back,” she said.

Replying to questions, Mufti said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been weakening the elected government himself. Citing the Waqf Bill, she said Abdullah instead of discussing the “grave issue” in the J&K Assembly preferred to welcome Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju who had introduced it in the Parliament in Srinagar’s Tulip Garden. “Still, I raised these demands with Omar Sahab as well. Let's see what the government can do,” she said.