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Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday paid tributes to the Kashmiri Pandits and said that no elected government at the Centre before 2014 understood the plight of the community and didn't make an effort to find a solution for their problems.
Singh paid tributes to the Kashmiri Pandits on the 'Chetna Divas', observed annually on December 27 to remember Pandit Prem Nath Bhat and others in the community. Bhat was gunned down by terrorists in Anantnag on December 27, 1989. He said that it was only after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister that arrangements were made to provide Kashmiri Pandits with jobs and accommodations. "Until the year 2014, no government had understood their (Kashmiri Pandits') plight, nor had anyone made an effort to find solutions to all their problems. After Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014, there was both the will and the firm determination. Today, work is being done to completely curb terrorism. In these years, arrangements have been made for the jobs of Kashmiri Pandits, and provisions have also been made for their accommodation," Singh told reporters here. Meanwhile, People's Conference Chairman Sajad Gani Lone expressed serious concern over the alleged harassment of Kashmiris residing in various parts of the country, urging the centre to treat the issue as a matter of national security rather than an isolated incident. Addressing a press conference here, Lone said, "Thousands of Kashmiris, particularly from North Kashmir districts like Kupwara, have been living and working across the country for decades and have contributed to national integration." Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene, he said, "Those involved in targeting Kashmiris should be booked under strict laws, including PSA or UAPA." He also appealed to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to raise the issue with the chief ministers of the concerned states. (ANI)
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