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| Let's make a beginning:Kashmiri Pandits' return will make Kashmir inclusive | | 
By DR. Amit Wanchoo
I am a Kashmiri Pandit who stayed back in Kashmir. I was brought up in conflict, faced turmoil, encountered problems from all political ideologies but survived. I owe it to my friends, teachers and well wishers from Muslim majority community. For the last one week I have been reading newspapers, following TV debates, discussions on Kashmiri Pandits return. Before I move forward I would like to share two episodes with readers. In my college days, I went to Mumbai with my three Kashmiri friends. Once we reached Mumbai they chose to live in a hotel which was in Muslim dominated area, when I asked why their reply was that they felt safe there. Last month I was in Jammu with one of my friends who had to purchase a house there. We went to various places but finally he chose to purchase at Bhatindi because he felt safe there. So let us first accept that living as a minority anywhere in the world makes a person think 1000 times. In such circumstances, he always chooses the place selectively. It has nothing to do with the majority community but it is just a phobia and no one living in minority can ignore it.
Politicians should stop playing politics of opportunism and give a practical solution. If our esteemed politicians both mainstream and separatists are really serious about it have they taken any step in this direction for the last 25 years. Have they ever issued a hartal call or any form of protest against the selling of migrant property in Kashmir? Infact most of our politicians own migrant property both separatists and mainstream. As a goodwill gesture will they donate this property for the cause of Kashmiriyat and we can start from there.
One of elected MLA’s Engineer Rashid from North Kashmir has been recently in news for his remarks. He is the one who accused Congress government of hanging Afzal Guru but supported candidature of Congress MP for Rajya Sabha in 2015. He has always played politics of opportunism and oscillates between separatists and mainstream camps. He should better apologise to Kashmiris and be loyal to one ideology. Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims share a strong bond and they understand pain of each other. No political ideology can break this bond. Politicians may succeed temporarily but will never be successful in the long run. Some political leaders have been saying Kashmiri Pandit settlement will cause demographic changes. Presently we have 98% approximate Muslim population and 2% non Muslim population in Kashmir. How will demography change for such a figure. One can easily have a check on that, it is a digital world.
Kashmiri Pandits who will come back in the first phase are those with less economic resources. Will anyone sell the ancestral property of Kashmiri Pandits back to them at low cost. The property value in Kashmir is so high that no one can purchase house for 7 lacs or 20 lacs in Srinagar city or for that matter in any town of any district in Kashmir. Secondly I have seen everyone telling Kashmiri Pandits come back and live with your old neighbours. But the fact is that those old Muslim neighbours have sold their houses and shifted to new colonies in all these years. So where is that neighbour.
80 percent of Pandits have sold their property and most of unsold property is having family disputes. These properties were sold for a very low price than market value and the sales were done before 1997 when migrant property act came into being and after that most of these sales have been done as power of attorney, which practically are illegal sales. We should have a practical and logical solution. Let us focus on smart cities and have a beautiful EDUCITY, MEDICITY, IT and FILMCITY, in South Kashmir, North Kashmir and Central Kashmir. With that let us invite all Multi National companies to invest there. This should be followed by employment to youth of our state, who are mostly working outside state because of less job opportunities. In this set up we will have all Kashmiris purchasing property and living peacefully together. This township will be inclusive one but one has to identify areas which are environment friendly so that we don’t destroy nature.
Some Kashmiri friends of mine prefer to live in Gujjar Nagar while others prefer to live in Janipur, some live in Jamia Nagar while others live in Greater Kailash, some prefer to go to Europe while some go to Saudi Arabia. Let everyone have freedom of choice. Purchasing property is an individual decision and it will always vary from person to person. Kashmiri Pandits will surely come back but not as tourists. They want to live here as citizens of this state which is their birth right. Let all of us work to bridge these gaps and make Kashmir a real Paradise.
(Dr. Amit Wanchoo is a Yale World Fellow, Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), Harvard Kennedy School Fellow for Global leadership and Public Policy)
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(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the Scoop News)
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