Tarushi Aswani 
New Delhi: A section of Kashmiri Pandits is not convinced by the claims being made by the Narendra Modi government that the latest Bills passed by the Lok Sabha concerning Jammu and Kashmir would empower their community. They say the “reservation” being promised to Pandits in the J&K legislative assembly through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is a “ploy to dupe people [Pandits] into believing their [BJP’s] claims again”.
The two Bills passed by the Lok Sabha on December 6 seek to nominate two members from the “Kashmiri migrant community” and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly.
Some Pandits say it is not a “reservation” of seats per se, as the government is claiming, but a “nomination” of a political nature, which they say, would not empower the community politically in any way. Political analysts and activists from Kashmir also concur with the view, adding that it is aimed at helping the BJP politically.
‘A political move’
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power at the Centre for nine years. While the BJP, in both its manifestos in 2014 and 2019, spoke of the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, little has been done to address the issues of the community, say a section of community leaders. According to them, every move of the BJP, supposedly aimed at their community, has added no value to their lives.
Satish Mahaldar, a community leader, says since the BJP came to power in 2014, Pandits have been more dejected than ever before. Mahaldar is the chairman of J&K Peace Forum as well as Reconciliation, Return, and Rehabilitation of Migrants.
“This is simply a political move aimed at helping the BJP. Had it been really concerned about the community, it would have reserved seats in a manner allowing people to elect their representatives,” he said, adding that this “reservation” by the Modi government makes the voting rights of Pandits irrelevant.
A protest by Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar. Photo: Shakir Mir
In its 2014 manifesto, the BJP vowed to facilitate the “return of Kashmiri Pandits to the land of their ancestors with full dignity, security, and assured livelihood”. Similarly, in its 2019 manifesto, it promised the “safe return of Kashmiri Pandits”. But for Mahaldar and many other Pandits, the fulfilment of these promises by the BJP remains a pipedream.
“Have they been able to rehabilitate our community, even after their grand promises? No! This reservation is also a similar ploy to dupe people into believing their claims again,” he added. “The BJP has failed us on all promises. Why does the Bill mention ‘Kashmiri migrant’ and not ‘Kashmiri Pandit’? What’s in the Bill for us?” asks Mahaldar pointedly.
He goes on to add that he, along with his fellow Pandits, has been pitching development projects to the J&K administration, which he says, have been “ignored and sidelined”. The projects proposed, he says, were housing societies and schools for Pandits.
This scheme of “reservation” will only continue to perpetuate the “injustice” being meted out to Pandits, says Bharat Kachroo, a social activist. Kachroo is from Jammu’s Jagti Camp, which was inaugurated by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 as a home for Kashmiri Pandit migrants who fled Kashmir’s extremism and violence in the 1990s.
“This kind of reservation continues to deprive us constitutionally, democratically, and electorally because if we cannot vote for those who represent us, it is only a loss and injustice. These nominated leaders would be parachute leaders, working on commands of the LG and Union government. Had this been through the electoral process, it would have made sense,” says Kachroo.
He further goes on to say, “They could have conducted elections within the community if they really wanted the Pandit community to have a voice. We would have respected that, but this only makes me think that the BJP does not want to resettle us back into the Valley. This is an insult to our community.”
‘Nomination, not reservation’
Although the Bill is called ‘Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Mohit Bhan, a spokesperson from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), told The Wire that it is not “reservation” but “simple nomination by the LG’s office”. To call it reservation, he says is a “misconception”, adding that the arrangement had already been in place in the erstwhile J&K state where representatives of various communities were nominated to the J&K legislative council, which was also abolished in 2019.
Bhan affirms that nominations do not empower Kashmiri Pandits, for it does not help them in gaining political ground. On the other hand, he says, it has the reverse effect of pulling them back from grassroots political activity in Kashmir.
Sanjay Tickoo, another Kashmiri Pandit leader, concurs with Bhan. He feels that the nomination route would yield nothing and does not benefit the community. “They also nominated people earlier, but it has made our community,” says Tickoo, who heads the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti.
Tickoo alleges that there are no efforts on the part of the administration of the Union territory to help resettle the migrant Kashmiri Pandits into the Valley. “A sizeable number of community members had believed that the BJP would resettle us back into the Valley and also give us rights. But, there has been no such change,” adds Tickoo, who has stayed put in the Valley throughout despite violence.
He says the failure of the BJP to keep its promises has resulted in the majority in the Valley turning against Pandits. “It was only after the BJP government abrogated Article 370 that the first killing of a Pandit took place in the Valley after 18 years,” he explains.
Both Bhan and Tickoo say in unison that the Pandit community feels “betrayed” and “backstabbed” by the BJP.
With the Bill set to become a law merely five months before the 2024 general elections, Bhan says the BJP only wants to milk the issues faced by Kashmiri Pandits for its political gains. He says it only helps the BJP to advance its “Hindu khatrey main hain (Hindus are under threat) ” narrative to woo Hindu voters across the country.