Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said the Pandit community saw the worst losses in the Kashmir conflict compared to others and their migration weakened the education system of the Valley.
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“Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Pandits got killed [in Kashmir]. But the worst losses were faced by Pandits, who left the Valley. They were our school teachers, doctors and engineers. Their migration rattled the education system in Kashmir,” Ms. Mufi said at a public rally in Jammu.
The PDP chief said she was brought up alongside Pandits in Kashmir, which is like a flower bouquet. “The sight of a Dogra, a Sikh, a Kashmiri Pandit and a Muslim walking shoulder by shoulder in Jammu is the most pleasing. Nothing of that sort is left in Kashmir anymore, where mostly Muslims live now,” Ms. Mufti said.
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‘Why spread hatred?’
She appealed to the youth of Jammu not to fall prey to communal divide. “Look forward. They talk of Babar, Aurangzeb, Jinnah and Pakistan. If Indian Muslims wanted to join Pakistan, they would have done that long back. People of Kashmir decided to join Gandhi’s India. Why spread so much hatred against Kashmiri Muslims?” she said.
She said there was no harm in watching the Bollywood film The Kashmir Files “but don’t hate Muslims”.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, everyone faced atrocities. The way the BJP and the Prime Minister are promoting the film, if they would have done something for the Kashmiri Pandits the same way in the last eight years, then their situation would have been different today,” Ms. Mufti said.