US secretary urged to take up plight of pandits with Gujral
Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown has
sought United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's intervention
in rehabilitating Kashmiri pandits in the troubled valley.
In a letter, he drew Albright's attention to America's support for a
peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute and said that 'restoration
of the pandits to their ancestral home in Kashmir
valley must be part of any comprehensive agreement.'
He said the fact that the pandits remained exiled in
their own country was ''truly shocking." So were the "conditions they
were forced to live in.''
Brown urged Albright to take up the issue with the Indian
government
during her New Delhi visit next month. It should be made a regular item
in the US discussions with India, he said.
''Since 1989, foreign-trained terrorists have attempted to
establish an Islamic regime in Jammu and Kashmir
by ridding its non-Muslim minorities, especially pandits
who are the original inhabitants of the valley,'' he said.
The pandit community had subsequently
been forced to live in bleak makeshift camps across India. Neither the state nor the Centre were of much help to them in their efforts to return home with dignity and security, Brown claimed.
The Indian government need to take concrete action towards this end, he said.
The US Congressman noted that the pandits had established the Kashmir Pandit
Political Steering Committee to press their claims.
''I hope you will encourage both the state and central governments
to engage this organisation in meaningful dialogue,'' he said.
The state department's report on human rights violations had
highlighted the plight of the pandits.
The Indo-American Kashmir Forum, a lobby group of
US-based pandits, welcomed Brown's
move.
''How the pandit minority will survive in the
state will be the ultimate test for Indian
democracy, secularism and plurality,'' IAKF officials said.
UNI
RELATED REPORTS:
20,000 Kashmiri pandit families live in nightmarish conditions in Delhi
Kashmiri pandits ask US for humanitarian aid
The natives refuse to return
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