An empathetic RSS paves way for PM's Kashmir package

PM will address joint rally of coalition partners BJP and PDP at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Nov 7

With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) assuaged over its concerns on resettling of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to announce a special economic package for Jammu and Kashmir during his visit to Srinagar on Saturday.

The PM, with state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed by his side, will address a joint rally of coalition partners Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on November 7.

Modi is expected to announce central assistance for specific infrastructure projects in line with the promise he made to the people of the state during the election campaign to the state assembly polls in November-December 2014. An important part of the economic package will be for the internally displaced people, which include Kashmiri Pandits, and for refugees from Pakistan.

The Centre was keen to announce the economic package, including for rehabilitation of those affected by the floods that Kashmir experienced in 2013, earlier this year. But the RSS had then insisted that the government should be evenhanded in addressing concerns of not only Kashmir but also of Jammu region as well as of Kashmiri Pandits.

Rehabilitation of Kashmir Pandits in the Valley is a tenet of the BJP-PDP government's common minimum programme. Kashmiri Pandit families had to leave their homes in Kashmir when militants targeted the community in 1990. The RSS misgivings on the issue stemmed from its unhappiness at the Centre having provided a "paltry" Rs 500 crore for the welfare of Kashmiri Pandits in the union budget of 2014-15.

However, after consultations between all stakeholders, the PDP-BJP government in Srinagar felt and the Sangh agreed that an atmosphere suitable for the return of Kashmiri Pandit families should first be created in Kashmir Valley before the members of the community can return.

"This is a delicate matter and will be pursued both by the Centre and the state government with utmost care. We believe the PM's outreach to the valley will be received positively and the time will soon come when these families will be able to return," a senior RSS leader, who deals with Kashmir, said.

An estimated 40,000 Kashmiri families migrated to Jammu and other parts of India in the 1990s. While the state government has received over 6,000 applications by Kashmiri Pandits seeking to return under the resettlement policy, only one family has returned.

Apart from attending the rally, the PM will also meet traders and businessmen and inaugurate a couple of infrastructure projects during his daylong stay in Srinagar.