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Journalism of Courage
Alarmed by the massive destruction of revenue records in a fire in Srinagar’s Secretariat, dispaced Kashmiri Hindus today sought help of Defence Minister George Fernandese in securing their rights to remain ‘‘residents’’ of their home state.
Sunil Shakdhari, president of Kashmir Samiti, the nodal agency of the displaced community, said: ‘‘If our property records and records pertaining to the state subject (citizenship under the J-K statute) get destroyed in future we may have nothing in hand to prove that we belong to J-K.’’
After meeting Fernandes for nearly 45 minutes, Shakdhar alleged: ‘‘The fire is not coincidental. It had happened at a time when there is talk of Kashmiri Pandits’ return to the Valley.’’ Fearing sabotage, he said: ‘‘There is a conspiracy to make us stateless.’.
The Samiti leaders have asked Fernandes to ‘‘rescue’’ official records of the properties of displaced people as ‘‘these are not in friendly hands’’.
A resident of J-K should have a ‘‘residentship certificate’’ to get jobs, buy property and secure admission to state’s colleges.
The Samiti leaders also demanded that the community be given the status of ‘‘internally displaced people’’. That, only, Shakdhar said, would reflect the reality of exodus.
