Justice for Kashmiri Pandits BJP's firm commitment: Modi

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 19 2014 | 8:55 PM IST
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits today met Narendra Modi who has said that he was "firmly committed" to ensuring justice for the community which was displaced from the Valley due to terrorism.
"Met a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits earlier today... No words will ever explain the extent of suffering Kashmiri Pandits experienced. Justice towards the community remains our firm commitment," Modi said on microblogging site twitter.Com following his meeting with the delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch.
The delegation's meeting with Modi came as Kashmiri Pandits marked the 25th year of their forced displacement from the Valley.
"Injustice to Kashmiri Pandits is not only an attack on their rights but an attack on our national ideal of Sarva Pantha Sambhav," Modi said, expressing solidarity with the displaced community.
In a memorandum submitted to Modi, the Kashmiri Pandits' delegation said that neither the Centre nor the state government had prepared any clear policy for their return.
They added that the prime minister's Kashmir package does not contain a single word on the political dimensions of any proposed return.
Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidate, has in the past spoken about the plight of the community which has been forced to live in exile ever since militancy broke out in the Valley in 1989.
"The whole country has reposed its faith in you to liberate it from the misrule of a corrupt and unfair political dispensation," they said.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, too, spoke about the plight of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
He said that efforts should be "redoubled" for the safe and dignified rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.
"Today see the start of the 25th year that Kashmiri Pandits had to flee their homes in the Valley. Words will never be enough. Nor should they be," Omar wrote on twitter.
"Time to redouble efforts to create conditions where their sense of security is restored and Pandits can consider returning," Omar tweeted.
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First Published: Jan 19 2014 | 8:55 PM IST

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