Kashmiri Pandits to hold rally in Delhi

On the 13th anniversary of being 'hounded out' of Jammu and Kashmir by militants, the Panun Kashmir will hold a torchlight procession from Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday.

"On this day in 1990, 3.5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were hounded out of their homes... [militants] drove us out... to make us refugees in our own country," Panun Kashmir general-secretary Ramesh Manvati said.

Manvati said, "We strongly protest the apathy of the central and the J&K government of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed towards our rehabilitation."

He said the J&K government's rehabilitation of some Pandits in Tulla-Mulla in Srinagar and Matan in the Anantnag district "is being done without consulting us and is largely an eyewash".

Referring to the scheduled visit of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to India in February, he said, "We will be seeking his advice on the gross human right violations against our entire community by the militants in J&K.

"The Mufti government is giving militants, who drove us out of our homeland... employment and other benefits. I regret to say that it is turning a blind eye to our plight, just like the central government."