NEW DELHI — Kashmiri Pandit activist and Chairman of JK Peace Forum Satish Mahaldar has questioned National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah’s recent remarks on alleged threats to Kashmiri Pandits, saying the focus should also remain on the community’s unresolved rehabilitation and return to Kashmir.
In a press statement, Mahaldar said Abdullah’s argument that Hindu officers from outside Jammu and Kashmir are serving safely in the Valley while Kashmiri Pandits are allegedly receiving threats failed to address the distinct circumstances of a displaced community seeking to return to its ancestral homes.
Mahaldar said any alleged threat letters should be investigated and their authenticity established.
“If the threat letters are fake, investigate and expose those behind them. If they are genuine, punish the perpetrators,” he said, adding that questioning an individual letter should not become a means of dismissing the concerns of the wider Kashmiri Pandit community.
Referring to Abdullah’s reported remark that there was “daal mein kuch kaala hai”, Mahaldar said the circumstances surrounding the letters should be investigated but argued that the larger issue of Kashmiri Pandit displacement should not be overlooked.
According to Mahaldar, the community’s concerns extend beyond recent threat letters and include displacement from ancestral homes, unresolved property issues and the absence of a complete and permanent return.
He also referred to an undertaking reportedly given by the Jammu and Kashmir Government before the Supreme Court in 2009 concerning the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, including land allocation through Cooperative Group Housing Societies (CGHS).
Mahaldar questioned why the rehabilitation process remained unresolved years after the undertaking.
“Where is the promised land? Where is the rehabilitation? Where is the permanent return?” he asked.
He said governments should be held accountable for ensuring that rehabilitation results in a permanent and secure return rather than remaining a matter of repeated announcements.
Mahaldar also welcomed Abdullah’s reported statement that Kashmiri Pandits have an “absolute right” to return to Kashmir, but questioned whether that right had been translated into conditions that would allow the community to return with security, dignity and permanence.
He urged Abdullah to address the broader rehabilitation question alongside any investigation into alleged threats.
“The real question is why, after 36 years of displacement and 17 years after the rehabilitation undertaking, Kashmiri Pandits are still waiting to return home with security, dignity and permanence,” Mahaldar said.
Mahaldar concluded that Kashmiri Pandits need concrete measures to facilitate their return rather than further assurances that Kashmir remains their home.
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