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Migrant Kashmiri Pandits are longing to return but not at the cost of division of the state.
"It cannot happen. You cannot divide the valley on communal basis and have separate territories marked for Pandits and Muslims," Tej Vaccher, a Kashmiri migrant staying at Krishna Nagar market in south Delhi, told rediff.com on Monday.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had on Sunday called for the division of the state into four parts and creation of a Union territory north of Jhelum river for Pandits.
Vaccher, who shares a single room with his parents, brother and sister, longs to return but not the way the VHP wants.
"We hope the separatists like [the All Party] Hurriyat Conference participate in the elections and agree to settle for autonomy, so that peace returns to the valley. If that happens then we would love to return," he said.
Manmohini Kaul, an elderly Pandit lady residing in a south Delhi locality, cannot identify with the idea of a separate territory for the Pandits.
"We lived together in Kashmir for centuries before things went wrong in early nineties with the start of militancy. To return to Kashmir and live in an exclusively Pandit territory seems unnatural to me," she said.
"Would it be fair to ask those living in the area they [VHP] want to convert into a Union territory to vacate?" she asked.
Soon after assuming the presidentship of the National Conference on Sunday, Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah said he would strive for the "dignified return" of the Pandits.
Some Pandits feel that Omar's takeover might improve things. "He belongs to the younger generation. He might boost the chances of our return," Kaul said.
When asked if any leaders had visited them, they said no. "It is sad but Omar Abdullah, who lives in Delhi, never visited us. Neither does anyone from the central or the Delhi government," said Vaccher.
Seventeen migrant families live in a single hall, partitioned into rooms by curtains, at Krishna Nagar market. In every such 'room' live men, women and their grownup children.
"There is no sense of privacy here. Life here is worse than a slum. The government does not seem bothered about us. And we do not want to die in these camps," Vaccher added.
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