Srinagar, Nov. 20: Kashmiri Pandits have decided to take the election road back home after years of unfulfilled promises.

Never before have the Valley’s migrants contested in polls in so large a number as they have done this time, and ensuring their community’s “honourable” return from exile is their top priority.

“We want political space in Jammu and Kashmir where we can fight for the return of Kashmiri Pandits with constitutional guarantees like minority status. This was the main reason that forced me to fight this year’s election,” said Gopi Kishen Muju, who teaches clinical psychology at Government Medical College here.

Pandits comprise less than 4 per cent of the Valley’s population. More than 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits had left their burning homes when militancy broke out in 1989, and since then many leaders have pledged to pave the way for their return. But all have turned out to be empty promises.

Muju’s father, Pandit Dina Nath, had been killed by militants in June 1990. “I had already migrated in March that year after I received threats from some people but my parents had stayed back. When my father was killed, I could not come down for his cremation in Srinagar. My mother came to live with us in Jammu after my father’s death.”

Despite his personal tragedy, Muju wants to bridge the gap between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. “The Muslims have passed through horrible times and there is a trust deficit between the two communities. We have to work hard so that the two can live as they have for long,” he said.

Muju is one of dozens of Kashmiri Pandits in the election fray and the number is rising.

No Pandit candidate figures on the list of the two prominent mainstream parties — the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party — announced so far, though. But that has not demoralised the community.

Some Kashmiri Pandits have floated the National United Front (NUF) while several others are fighting as Independents. In Srinagar’s Habba Kadal constituency, there are as many as 11 Pandit candidates.

“We are contesting 15 seats, all in the Valley, because of our emotional attachment with that place. But this is not an all-Pandit affair and we want votes from all the communities. In fact, we have given our mandate to two Muslims,” said A.K. Diwani, who heads the NUF.