Displaced Kashmiri Pandits have registered a maiden group housing society to facilitate the return of the members of the community to the Valley.

Called Displaced Kashmiri Residents' Housing Society Limited, Srinagar, the initiative has been launched by the Jammu and Kashmir Peace Forum, a group representing sections of displaced Pandits.

“This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing effort to provide a sense of belonging, identity and a path towards returning to their ancestral roots for the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community,” the group said in a statement.

Forum president Satish Mahaldar said the society was registered on Friday. “The response has been good. Forty families have registered. This is in addition to the 419 families who had volunteered to return in 2014. The list was presented to the government but there has been no progress since,” Mahaldar said.

“All that has happened with us is that we have been misused politically and no real effort has been taken to take us back,” he said, adding that they plan to set up the first colony in Srinagar. Although a private initiative, the support of the Union Territory and the Centre will be key to its success.

The group has asked the government to provide them land at nominal prices and subsidise their constructions. Successive Congress and BJP-led governments at the Centre have taken multiple initiatives to bring back displaced Pandits. One of the major schemes introduced over a decade back offered 6,000 government jobs to Pandits. Most of the jobs have been filled. They have been provided accommodation at secured transit camps, built exclusively for them at multiple places.

Mahaldar, however, said this was a temporary return as most of them had not rebuilt their houses. “They will live in transit camps as long as they are in (government) service. After that they will have to pack their bags and leave,” he said.

The return of Pandits faced a setback after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 as militants stepped up targeted attacks on non-locals and Pandits. Hundreds of Pandit government employees fled Kashmir but have since returned after the government refused to shift their job positions to Jammu.

The forum has launched a website, www.displacedkashmiris.in, to initiate the membership drive. “Kashmir, being the cradle of Indian civilisation, holds an irreplaceable place in the heart of the nation. The Kashmiri Pandit community’s return to Kashmir is integral to preserving the rich cultural fabric and ensuring the region's ties with the broader Indian ethos,” the statement reads.

The group said it had a “right to reclaim homes, lands, temples, shrines and cultural landmarks that were lost during the years of displacement".

“We also emphasise that this is not a claim for rehabilitation but rather an expression of our collective will to rebuild our lives in Kashmir,” it said.