Despite social media getting deluged with video clippings of displaced Kashmiri Pandits vowing to “return and die” in the Valley, the community appeared to be plagued by self-doubts over the prospects of their return.

They demanded that the central government should settle the community living as refugees in their own country for the past 30 years at one place in the Kashmir Valley.

Kashmiri Pandits consider “safety and security” as the biggest hurdle in their return to their roots in the Valley.

The displaced Kashmiri Pandits across the world commemorated January 19 as Holocaust Day, when more than 70,000 Pandit families were forced out of the Valley due to killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in 1990.

The event this year was held against the backdrop of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“We are hopeful that after the epochal decisions on August 5 and amendments in Citizenship Act, the Union government will address the pain and agony suffered by Hindus of Kashmir for the past 30 years,” said Panun Kashmir convener Agnishekhar.

He said while Panun Kashmir bats for a separate territory to be carved out in Kashmir for 7 lakh Kashmiri Pandits, it is for the government to discuss with the community the ways and means of the basis of return and rehabilitation in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement.

Sitting in a one-room quartet at Jagti camp on the outskirts of Jammu city, 89-year-old Mohan Lal Dhar wants one-place settlement for all Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.

Dhar says Pandits are living as refugees in their own country for three decades, but nothing is being done for their return and rehabilitation, because terrorism is still on.

Spelling their demands, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference general secretary T.K. Bhat said most Pandits feel that one-place settlement is only alternative for the return and rehabilitation of the community in Kashmir after ensuring their safety and security.

Stressing on the security aspect, Bhat said, “You can guard our houses, colonies… but it is not possible to provide security to each and every Kashmiri Pandit when they go out in the market. Security is the most important aspect connected to the return of the community.”

The UPA-1 government had offered a rehabilitation package for Kashmiri Pandits that proposed Rs 7.5 lakh to every Kashmiri Pandit family willing to return to the Valley.

Several families volunteered to return and filled up the forms. Eight years after that, there has been no progress, said Poshker Nath, who has been living in Roopnagar in Jammu.

The home ministry had in a written reply in Parliament said only one family has returned.

B.L. Zutshi, a prominent social activist said, “One place homeland is the political empowerment of the community, and we look forward to this political empowerment”.

He said since 1947, Kashmir was gradually moving into a grip of fanaticism and theo-fascism and 1990 saw the culmination of a well-orchestrated ploy to dislodge Pandits.

Bihari Kak, a popular artist and member of the Athwas Cultural Association, also feels that the security of the community is prime.

Kashmiri Pandits say their return to the Valley is linked to employment, as the youths willing to return need to have a source of livelihood.

The proposal to rehabilitate the community in composite townships in the Valley was mooted by the NDA government, which faced opposition not only from separatists but also the mainstream political parties in Kashmir.

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