How many Kashmiri Pandits have actually been rehabilitated? | RTI
India Today
To know how many Kashmiri Pandits had left the Valley, how many of them have been rehabilitated and what steps the government has taken for their dignified return, India Today in 2021 filed RTI plea with the Union home ministry.
The Kashmir Files, a movie by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, is based on the 1990 exodus of lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits at the peak of insurgency in the Kashmir Valley. The movie has opened old wounds of this community while triggering a political storm in India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the Congress for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. The Congress put the blame back on the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The BJP is trying to portray itself as the champion of the ousted Kashmiri Pandits. In its 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto, the BJP said, “The return of Kashmiri Pandits to the land of their ancestors with full dignity, security and assured livelihood will figure high on the BJP's agenda.”
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To know how many Kashmiri Pandits had left the Valley, how many of them have been rehabilitated and what steps the government has taken for their dignified return, India Today in 2021 had filed a Right to Information (RTI) plea with the Union home ministry.
Responding to the query on the number of migrant Kashmiri Pandits as on July 20, 2021, the Union home ministry said, “As per the information available with the undersigned CPIO [Central Public Information Officer] approximately 44,167 families are registered as migrants with the Relief Organization of Government of J&K as on 31.01.2021.”
In response to the question on rehabilitation, the MHA [Ministry of Home Affairs] responded, “Construction of 6,000 Transit Accommodation for 6000 Kashmir's Migrants Employees in Kashmir Valley was approved under PMDP [Prime Minister’s Development Package], 2015. However, further information in this regard might be available with Government of Union Territory of J&K.”
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