Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 19: Holding of seminars, protest rallies, organising public meetings and workers conclave marked the observance of 23rd Holocaust Day by Kashmiri Pandits today.
Joint Forum of KP Organizations organized a seminar to observe the Day.
In his inaugural address Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo president Panun Kashmir (PK) said that those who forget the facts of history are condemned to live it again and that is why the leadership of the community has to remain on guard against any hasty and apolitical move regarding the settlement of the community in Kashmir.
He said diatribe against the Pandit community by the separatist forces in Kashmir remains unabated despite complete banishment of Pandits in Valley.
Addressing the seminar Dr Jitendra Singh National Executive member BJP and its chief spokesperson who was the guest speaker said KPs struggle is no longer confined to a particular community but has assumed wider dimensions to turn into a fight between nationalist forces and anti national elements.
He said if the ongoing struggle of last 23 years is taken for granted by the nation its repercussions will be seen across the country because the evil forces who forced the exodus of KPs from the Valley have now begun to encircle every nook and corner of the State as well as country as a whole.
ASKPC president H L Chatta, D N Kissu president ADKPF, R K Raina senior vice president ASKPC, Virender Riana national Spokesperson of the Joint Forum and Prem Singh Raina president KSDF also addressed the seminar.
Panun Kashmir led by Dr Ajay Chrungoo observed the Day as Black Day and registered strong protest against the forced exodus of the community from the ancestral homeland in 1990 at Jagti camp.
A large number of people wearing black badges and black headgears thronged the community hall at Jagti Camp to participate in the protest.
In his address Dr Ajay Chrungoo chairman PK said, KPs are being held hostages by policy makers to the regressive communal forces, who are hell bent to unhinge the state of J&K from the Indian nation. As the community represented the civilizational continuity of the Indian nation in the Kashmir Valley so they were made the front line victims of the Islamic Jehad, he added.
He said over two decades of forced exile of KPs from their ancestral homeland in independent and secular India establishes beyond doubt that the secular and democratic model of the Indian nation has remained insulted from the state of J&K and that is the reason that KPs were denied the their right to life and limb in Kashmir. The return and rehabilitation of the community in Kashmir is not possible without addressing the causes of genocide and holocaust of the community. PK has been proved right time and again and their stand on homeland has been vindicated, Chrungoo added.
PK general secretary Kuldeep Raina, senior KP leader ON Trisal, B L Bhat , M K Raina, Chand Ji Raina and P L Raina also spoke on the occasion and warned to launch a forceful agitation in case Jagti inmates were not provided all basic amenities.
Holocaust Day was observed as activists’ conclave by PK led by Dr Agnishekhar. Besides, the PK, members of Kashmira Vahini and Youth for PK attended it and resolved to continue the fight for achieving a separate homeland for seven lakh KPs within valley with UT status.
In his address PK convener Dr Agnishekhar focused in detail on the implications of genocide and exodus of KPs and hardships being faced by the inmates of Jagti camp. He appealed the KP diaspora to connect with the community’s struggle from wherever they might be earning their bread and butter.
Omji Bhat a senior PK leader, Sanjay Dattattreya, national coordinator PK, Umesh Kaul, coordinator Youth for PK, Ashtosh Kaul senior youth leader, Sushma Rishi, organising secretary KV and its national spokesperson Dr Kshama Kaul also addressed the conclave.
Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC) observed the day as black day. The KPC activists all over the country especially in Union Capital and Jammu wore black badges and switched off the lights of their residential houses and business establishments in the evening as a mark of protest, said its president Kundan Kashmiri.
The KPC activists at Jagti camp led by Kaka Ji Bhan also observed the Holocaust Day as black day.
Jagti Tenement Committee (JTC) and Soan Kashmir Front also observed the Holocaust Day today. B L Raina chairman JTC and S L Pandita its president said though 23 years have passed since the mass exodus of KPs the Government has failed to prepare a road map and blue print on rehabilitation of Pandits at a single place in Valley.
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