By Jehangir Ali
Srinagar: In a significant move, an interfaith committee has been set up to pave the way for the return and rehabilitation of the minority Kashmiri Pandit community to the valley which will be headed by moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a civil society group said on Saturday (February 1).
The announcement is likely to irritate the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government, which has so far failed to rehabilitate the Valley’s displaced Pandit community despite promising to and being in direct control of Jammu and Kashmir from 2018 to 2024.
It is also significant because it represents the re-emergence of the Mirwaiz as a political voice in Kashmir. Last week he travelled to Delhi in an attempt to apprise the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill of the concerns and apprehensions of Muslims in J&K – something regional political parties like the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have largely avoided speaking about – even meeting BJP MP and JPC chair Jagdambika Pal.
The Mirwaiz also met senior National Conference leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, Syed Aga Ruhullah in the national capital last week in a rare meeting between senior Kashmiri leaders of two opposing political ideologies. The meeting was termed as a “positive development” for Jammu and Kashmir by Tanvir Sadiq, the ruling party’s chief spokesperson and the newly elected member of legislative assembly from Srinagar’s Zadibal constituency.
A meeting in Delhi
A statement issued by JK Peace Forum, a society registered with the government, on Saturday said that a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits led by Satish Mahaldar, a prominent activist from the minority community, met the moderate Hurriyat chief at JW Marriott hotel in New Delhi on January 31.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
