The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday asked what the Narendra Modi government had done to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, accusing the regime of politicising the displaced people’s sufferings by piggybacking on a film that is being seen as a propaganda vehicle.
During discussions on the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2022, several leaders demanded the conduct of elections so that an Assembly can be constituted in the fledgling Union Territory and a budget tabled next year. Some MPs called for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
The Opposition parties claimed there was a trust deficit among the public and reminded the government about the slogan “Insaniyat (humanity), Jamhooriyat (democracy), Kashmiriyat” espoused by BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the best way forward.
The Kashmir Files also came up in the Rajya Sabha with the BJP parliamentarians advising the Opposition to see the film to know the “truth”. The Vivek Agnihotri film claims there was a “genocide”, not exodus, of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, a view lapped up by the Right wing.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi pointed out the budget proposal for Jammu and Kashmir being placed through the appropriation bill had not earmarked any funds for the Pandits.
“Now you are discussing the Kashmiri Pandits after a film is made on the issue. You are doing politics on this issue. There was a promise to construct 6,000 transit homes. Only 1,025 homes have been constructed,” she said.
The Prime Minister had announced a package in 2015 to provide 3,000 jobs in the Jammu and Kashmir government to Valley “migrants” and construct 6,000 “transit accommodations” for them.
According to a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2021, by then minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy, 44,167 Kashmiri migrant families, including 39,782 Hindu migrant families, have had to move out of the Valley since 1990 because of security concerns. Reddy had said 1,025 transit accommodations had been constructed till March 2021.
Under another package in 2008, state government jobs had been provided to 2,461 Kashmiri migrants and 505 transit accommodations constructed and allotted to them.
Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav asked the government in the Upper House on Tuesday for data on the number of Kashmiri Pandits rehabilitated by the NDA government.
“You can blame the previous governments for the Kashmir issue. But what is your achievement? How many Kashmiri Pandits have you rehabilitated in Kashmir?” he asked.
Congress MP Vivek Tankha, a Kashmiri Pandit, urged the government to do justice to the displaced people of the community. He said the BJP was talking about the Pandits 32 years after their exodus from the Valley.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said there was no member from Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha because the Assembly was dissolved in November 2018.
“If you are concerned about Jammu and Kashmir, it should be reflected in your actions,” he said.
These days there are discussions on a film. There are a lot of wounds in the history of the nation. You cannot differentiate one from the other,” he said.
Trinamul Congress MP Nadimul Haque said elections to District Development Councils (DDCs) in Jammu and Kashmir had been held but the elected members have been kept confined to camps.
“The elected members have been told there is a threat to their lives. The condition is not good there. Sixty-two security personnel have died in 2020 and 106 injured. In 2021, 42 security personnel were killed and 170 injured. The government is trying to project everything is normal in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Haque said it was a matter of concern that 46 per cent of educated people in Jammu and Kashmir were unemployed. Competitive exams have not been held for three years and start-ups and manufacturing units have been closed. He urged the government to speak to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and restore democracy.
The CPM’s V. Sivadasan urged the Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the political process had started in Jammu and Kashmir with the DDC elections and the Assembly polls would be held too. Naqvi said the Union Territory was on the path of development. A team of investors from Gulf nations are touring Jammu and Kashmir to explore investment possibilities, he said.
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi thanked finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for proposing a budget of Rs 1.42 lakh crore for Jammu and Kashmir. The minister will respond on Wednesday.
