No delimitation, says Kashmiri Pandits

NEW DELHI, May 29: The Reconciliation, Return & Rehabilitation of Migrants, a Delhi-based NGO of the Kashmiri Pandits, on Friday urged the Centre to stop the delimitation process being started in Jammu and Kashmir to redraw the Assembly constituencies, asserting that it would keep out the Pandits from the process since the 2011 Census is being used for the purpose.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the Government of India is not interested in rehabilitating the persecuted and the expelled community of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir as promised on the floor of Parliament," says its chairman Satish Mahaldar.
By going ahead this way, it seems the BJP is trying to appease those elements in the valley, which have caused the persecution of the minorities in the valley and have soft corner for the separatist agenda, he affirmed.
In an email statement, he condemned the whole delimitation as a "fraudulent exercise" in which the rights of the people are not protected. He asked how can the delimitation be fair when over two lakh Kashmiri Pandit migrants are not enrolled in the electoral roll of Kashmir, nor are they registered with the Migrants & Relief Department. He asserted that the names of the Kashmiri Pandits have been deliberately erased from the electoral records in the present Parliamentary Constituencies in Kashmir.
The NGO said the delimitation should start only after completing the domicile process of the Kashmiri Pandits to give right figure of their population and they are enrolled in the respective parliamentary constituencies as specified in their domicile certificates.