No separate zone for pandits: Govt
As the National Conference in J& K and separatist groups have opposed the building of exclusive townships for Kashmiri pandits, the government told Parliament Tuesday there was “no plan for creation of exclusive zones” for pandits, ending the controversy over the issue.
In response to queries by nine MPs in the Lok Sabha on whether there was any such proposal, minister of state for home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said: “No proposal to create separate zones exclusively for Kashmiri pandits in J& K is under consideration.”
Ministry sources said, however, that the government was planning to bring back pandits to the Valley and provide them accommodation. The state government has said the townships will have mixed population of pandits, Sikhs, Muslims and Buddhists from Ladakh.
The opening of “darbar,” the biannual office move between Jammu and Kashmir’s twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar, was marked by a shutdown called by a traders’ alliance, a series of protests including one by Congress and clashes between pro- freedom irate crowds of youth and police in the summer capital ( Srinagar) on Tuesday.
The Congress party took out a protest rally from its state unit headquarters at Maulana Azad Road to the Civil Secretariat against the state government, alleging the regional Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP) had entered into an “unholy coalition” with the BJP for power and that the coalition government has failed on all fronts.
While Congress protesters were on way to the Civil Secretariat, groups of youth believed to be supporters of pro- independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front ( JKLF) hurled rocks on them at Srinagar’s Budshah Chowk. As the police tried to push them back in dark alleys of nearby Maisuma, they turned back leading to ding- dong streets battles between the two sides during which police fired teargas canisters and swung bamboo sticks to restore order.
During a separate protest rally, the police detained independent MLA Engineer Sheikh Abdur Rashid as he along with his supporters too tried to relocate to the Civil Secretariat where he wanted to lodge a protest against the government’s plan to set up separate townships for Kashmiri Pandits.