Row Over 'Composite Townships' for Kashmiri Pandits Intensifies, Separatists Call for Shut Down

Protests erupted in Srinagar today over a plan for "composite townships" in Jammu and Kashmir for displaced Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits. Police resorted to tear gas shelling as dozens of demonstrators, led by separatist Yasin Malik, broke police cordons and entered the Lal Chowk area in the centre of the city. According to officials eight policemen were injured during the clashes.

Separatist groups have called for state-wide protests against setting up of separate townships for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. They have also called for a general strike tomorrow over the issue.

In a related development, several Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs, who continued to live in the valley even after the exodus, have also joined their voice against separate townships. They have offered to engage with all parties concerned and come up with a concrete proposal.

"The valley belongs to everybody and we have to live together. We will fight against the central government tooth and nail. We oppose dividing society on sectarian lines," says Chairman of All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee, Jagmohan Singh Raina.

Kumar Ji Wanchoo, a prominent member of the Kashmiri Pandit community, told NDTV, "Now is the issue of modalities.  The modality of Panun Kashmir (separate homeland) has never been a reality because it is not practical and it will not work''

Referring to separatists' call for a bandh tomorrow, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju said, "There are elements in the state who definitely try to wipe up the sentiments of the people which will create problems. So my appeal would be that people should not get brainwashed or influenced by those elements."

In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Mr Rijiju said, "We cannot be influenced by people working at the diktat of the outsiders and all."

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who runs a government in partnership with the BJP, had earlier said that while the government will be taking steps for the return of the Kashmiri Pandit community, no separate townships will be set up.

About three lakh Pandits had left the Valley in the 1990s. Around 1500 of those who did return since 2007 under a government job scheme say they are not happy. They live in migrant colonies but allege  that they do not have basic amenities like a ration card or even a voter ID card.