Nepal Route May Open For Surrendered Terrorists Returning from Pakistan

Srinagar: After more than a two-year unwritten moratorium on the return of Kashmiri militants from Pakistan under the "Surrender and rehabilitation policy", the Center and Jammu and Kashmir government are working out the modalities to legalise the Nepal route.

Mohammad Safi Bhat, who came home last week after 26 long years -- is the first Kashmiri militant who returned to the Valley via Nepal in last two years of NDA rule.

Like thousands of Kashmiris, Bhat, a resident of Budgam district,   had crossed the Line of Control in 1990 for arms training in Pakistan and joining the militants in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

There, he got married. Bhat says he and his family had to spend 12 days in Nepal before they were allowed to enter India.

"I was always trying to come back to live with my parents and relatives. Every Kashmiri there (in Pakistan) has an urge to return. Foreign land is foreign land," said Mohammad Shafi Bhat.

Bhat's 17-year-old daughter Taiba says she always wanted her father to return home. "I'm born and brought up in Pakistan, but I was eager to come here because all our relatives are here," said Taiba

Bhats return comes after J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti held a meeting with Union Home minister Rajnath Singh and discussed the issue of  legalizing Nepal route for the return of Kashmiris who want to abjure violence.

"I recently discussed this -- the Nepal route for the return of those who want to abandon militancy -- with Home Minister Rajnath Singh. People have been coming for the last few years, but it was an illegal route and they faced problems," said Ms Mufti.

Around 400 militants and their families have returned to the state under the government's surrender policy since 2011, but the process was derailed after Delhi police arrested Liyakat Shah and his family at the Nepal border in 2013 and booked him under a fabricated terror case.