Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader, Professor Saifuddin Soz Sunda said thatwhile the confusion on identification of land for such a colony at Baramulla will get cleared, he would like to suggest that such measures are neither workable nor purposeful.In a statement issued to KNS, Soz said that the general run of Kashmiris desire that Kashmiri Pandit migrants should get back to their home and hearth, in normal course for an atmosphere of peace and togetherness.“One of these days, I will explain in some detail, the vision of Atal Behari Vajpai on Kashmir, but in the mean time all of us must ponder on the fact that we have decidedly fallen to bad days and things can go wrong anytime, anywhere,” he said.He said that he don’t think seasoned Pandit leaders have been consulted seriously on this issue. “The likes of Anupan Khers do not represent collective conscience of the Pandits,” he said.
While I reserve a detailed comment on this proposition, I would like to remind the Pandit Community as also the Kashmir Civil Society what late P. N. Haksar, himself a Pandit and a great thinker, had said on Oct. 15. 1995. “I had also strenuously contended against the idea that a portion of the territory of Kashmir be carved out as an exclusive home for the Pandits. Ghettos have never in human history given peace and security to its inhabitants. I should also like to state with utmost respect that Bharat, Hind, Hindustan or India has been engaged for the greater part of the 20th Century in coming to grips with the complex problems of transforming an ancient civilization within the frame work of a modern Nation State which is uncompromisingly secular”. (KNS)