Will take all stakeholders into confidence for Kashmiri Pandit zones, says Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Thursday said that he will take all the stake holders in confidence before accepting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's request of creating separate zones for Kashmiri Pandits in the state.

"There will be no separate home land for Kashmiri Pandits. We will take all the stake holders, on this issue, in confidence," Sayeed said, while speaking in the state assembly.

"We will create an environment of secularism in the valley. The issue should not be politicized. This is a human issue and we don't want to create an Israel. We want the people of all the communities to live together," he added.

Sayeed had earlier on Tuesday assured Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that his government would immediately start the process for creating the zones and has accepted the demand for creating separate zones for Kashmiri Pandits in the state.

However, he came under fire from his predecessor Omar Abdullah and separatist leader Yasin Malik for what they felt was the 'ghettoisation' of the Kashmiri Pandits.