Kashmiri Pandit body reiterates demand for 'genocide' recognition, separate homeland

Jammu, Jan 11 (PTI) A Kashmiri Pandit organisation has reiterated its demand for legal recognition of the violence directed against the community and its displacement as "genocide" and sought the establishment of a separate homeland in the valley under direct "Union protection".

Panun Kashmir, a leading organisation representing the displaced community, raised the demand in a five-page memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Releasing the memorandum here, the organisation described the displacement of the community from the valley as one of the gravest crimes in independent India, stating that members of the community have lived in internal exile for over 35 years following targeted killings, intimidation, and religious cleansing.

"What was initially treated as a temporary crisis has, through institutional inertia, hardened into a permanent injustice. Panun Kashmir submits that no administrative relief, welfare package, or rehabilitation scheme can substitute for two foundational acts of justice -- formal legal recognition of genocide, and the creation of separate, secured homeland," the memorandum, signed by general secretary Kuldeep Raina, said.

Highlighting its seven demands, Panun Kashmir called for the enactment of the Genocide Bill, 2020, proposed by the organisation, stating that the absence of statutory recognition has reduced the issue to a matter of narrative interpretation rather than acknowledgement of a crime of the highest legal order.

It said failure to name genocide had resulted in a lack of accountability and guarantees against recurrence.

The memorandum said the demand for a separate homeland flows directly from genocide recognition, arguing that the return to pre-1990 conditions without territorial security is neither viable nor ethical.

It referred to the Margdarshan Resolution of 1991, which envisaged a separate homeland as a framework for security, cultural survival, and dignity.

Pending fulfilment of these demands, Panun Kashmir outlined interim obligations for the State, including enhancement of monthly relief, a central government employment drive for youth, housing for families living in rented accommodation in Jammu, repair and upgradation of existing camp flats, and service parity and residential quarters for the Prime Minister's Package employees working in the Kashmir valley.

The organisation said these measures are necessary to sustain survivors with dignity, but cannot be treated as permanent rehabilitation. PTI TAS PRK PRK