GKPD, JKVM 2 day conclave ends
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 27: Kashmiri Pandits in the two -days conclave at New Delhi has expressed its disappointment at the current impasse and urged Government of India to engage with the community to discuss the way forward.
The conclave was organized jointly by Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) and Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM). Seven hundred delegates from across India and all over the world attended it.
The key note speaker at the conclave was Sadhguru. Leading intellectuals, media influencers, academics, social and political activists from within and outside the community were among other speakers.
The conclave was dedicated to leading Kashmiri Pandit community activists who have passed away in exile.
Explaining ways of building the narrative, Sadhguru remarked, “I’m saying all across the country, you can demand with the Central Government as a tragedy that has unfolded in Kashmir, the injustice that has been done to the people- at least to acknowledge that. There must be in every city- at least every major city across the country, there must be a street named after Kashmir- a circle or a square named after Kashmir or there must be a Kashyapa mountain or a peak.”
Dr. Surinder Kaul, co-founder of GKPD, made the welcome address and outlined the key aims of the conclave. He said ‘`Our genocide is continuing and every death is bringing us closer to extinction. There has been a continuing lack of engagement by the Government of India with the community and it is high time that drastic measures are taken to redress the situation.”
On the first day, the team of ‘The Kashmir Files’ was honoured. Anupam Kher, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, Pallavi Joshi, Bhasha Sumbly and Sourav Verma received the ‘Vitasta Purusharth Samman’ .
Eminent community sports person Ankita Raina (Tennis) and Kuldeep Handoo (Wushu) received an award for their making the community proud by excelling in their fields.
Over two days, panel discussions were held where several eminent people deliberated on key matters concerning the community.
Community leaders, Surinder Ambardar and Ajey Bharti, senior advocate Ashok Bhan, journalists Asha Khosa and R.K Mattoo, academics Prof.Sudhir Sopory and Prof. Amitabh Mattoo and senior community activists C.L Gadoo, H.L Bhat and T.N Razdan attended the conclave.
At the conclave, the ‘Vision document and road map-Integrated Smart Regional settlement Hub’ was presented to the community which will soon be forwarded to the Government.
The conclave resolution was also tabled. It reaffirmed the community’s inalienable right to Justice, offers firm support to those who continue to suffer due to Government inaction, urged the Government of India to engage with the community and called upon the Government support the Recourse, Restitution, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2002 tabled at Rajya Sabha.
On the second day the delegates paid tributes to the slain martyr Sanjay Sharma by lighting a lamp in his memory.
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