The Kashmiri Pandits
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1990-2015: Measures taken
The Times of India, Nov 01 2015
AmitAnand Choudhary
Only 1 Pandit family back in Valley in 25 yrs
Almost all Kashmiri Pandit migrated from the Valley after militancy reared its ugly head in J&K in the 1990s. Despite various schemes to bring them back to the Valley , including the PM's rehab plan in 2008 under which Rs 1,600 crore was granted by the Centre, the efforts have borne little fruit. In Oct 2015 the state govern ment told the Supreme Court that only one Kashmiri Pandit family had returned to the Valley so far, sending a clear message that the migrants are still afraid to resettle there. In its affidavit, the state admitted that the Rs 1,600-crore package was largely underutilised except for creating posts for the migrants in government departments and building transit camps for them. Efforts to bring back Pandits displaced from the Kashmir Valley in 1990s have come a cropper, the J&K government told the Supreme Court. The state filed an affidavit on the issue after the court pulled it up over its inertia to implement rehabilitation packages for the Pandits. It had asked the state to explain whether it set aside even a single sale of house as illegal since hundreds of houses between 1990-97 belonging to Pandits were sold illegally after they fled the valley. The state government said that 469 units of transit accommodation have been built for migrant Kashmiris and 3,000 posts were created in various departments for providing employment to the migrant youths interested in working in the valley, It informed the top court that an additional 3,000 government jobs would be created exclusively for the migrants with assistance from the Centre, which has approved construction of 6,000 units of accommodation in the Valley for them. The government, however was mum on whether the dis ress sale of property by the Pandits was illegal and should be quashed. The court had di rected the government to furnish a list of all such proper ies which were sold by people while leaving the Valley after militancy hit the state. It, however, said so far the government has issued 5,931 sale permissions for registra ion of immovable properties belonging to Kashmiri mi grants. Under Jammu and Kash mir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, a migrant's assets cannot be soled without getting approval from the revenue commissioner. The Migrant Immovable Property Act also empowers the district magistrates (DM) to take over the possession of immovable properties, belonging to migrants.
The government had ear lier assured the court that properties auctioned between 1990 to 1997 would be declared “illegal“ and restored to owners.
