Cong MP tables Bill for rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits

The provisions of the Bill include grant of minority status to Kashmiri Pandits, declaring them as “victims of genocide”, changing their official nomenclature to ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ with immediate effect, and release of a white paper documenting all events in the Valley “pertaining to the atrocities and plight of the Kashmiri Pandits” starting from 1988 to be prepared by a high level committee headed by a retired Chief Justice of India and comprising two retired judges of the Supreme Court, two MPs, two former MPs, four sitting or former Members of Legislature/Council of Jammu and Kashmir besides others.

The committee, the Bill says, “shall rely on depositions given by witnesses and lay special focus on the Reports and judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Courts of India, National Human Rights Commission, Reports of any Parliamentary Standing Committees and subcommittees set up for the purpose of examining the issue of Kashmiri Pandits.”

The Bill also seeks setting up of an inquiry commission with prosecutorial power and the powers to appoint Judicial Tribunal to investigate into “genocide and mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits”.The commission should be headed by a retired Chief Justice of India, it says.

Tankha will retire as a Rajya Sabha MP in June. If the Congress does not renominate him to Rajya Sabha, the Bill will lapse.

The Bill also envisages setting up of an Advisory Committee – consisting of 21 representatives of the Kashmiri Pandit community and two representatives of non-Kashmiri Pandit minorities of the Kashmir valley – with adequate powers to “effectively represent” the best interests of the Pandit community to assert their right for return, rehabilitation and restitution and advise the central government.

The Bill says the Centre, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, should take measures as recommended by the Delimitation Commission, to ensure enhanced political representation for the community across panchayats, Union Territory Legislative Assembly and Parliament. A mechanism should be created for enrollment of all migrant Kashmiri Pandits as voters and provide reserved seats in proportion to their numerical strength in local and Union Territory legislative bodies, it says.

The Bill also seeks a host of steps to establish an environment of economic justice, prosperity and security, for Kashmiri Pandits and other religious minorities including setting up of a corpus fund for the purpose of grants to be given to five thousand small or cottage industries owned by Kashmiri Pandits, interest free loans for setting up micro, small and medium enterprises without collateral requirements on a fifty percent loan and fifty percent grants basis and waiver of direct and indirect taxes for the first five years of establishment of any business.

Last month, the Congress while accusing the BJP of trying to spread hatred in the society through the movie, The Kashmir Files, claimed that successive Congress governments had rehabilitated many Kashmiri Pandits and provided them with jobs and houses.