Kashmiri Pandits threaten indefinite fast in Porbandar

All Party Migrants Co-ordination Committee (APMCC) said it has sought support for their cause from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Gopinath Munde, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat, LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, among others.

"When I had gone on a 10-day hunger strike in October 2011, a senior Minister in the Omar Abdullah government, R S Chib, had requested me to end the fast and assured that the government would set up a committee to look into our demands," APMCC Chairman Vinod Pandit told PTI.

Pandit will sit on a fast-unto-death from January 30 on behalf of APMCC. "The state government took no initiative after I ended my fast in 2011. I have decided to sit on a fast -unto-death again as both Governments have cheated me."

Asked asked the choice of venue, Pandit said, "Porbandar is the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi. There is no better inspiration than the Father of the Nation."

The major demands of APMCC include setting up of a board for temples and religious properties in J&K, dialogue with Pakistan for facilitating visit to Shardha Peeth in PoK and establishment of Shardha Peeth University in the state.

The organisation has also demanded a CBI probe into encroachment of lands belonging to temples and shrines in J&K.

APMCC Kashmir in-charge Sandeep Bhat said sale-deed of all temple properties should be declared null and void and a CBI inquiry should be ordered into land dealings.

Various groups like All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference and Kashmiri Pandit Conference have extended their support for APMCC's protest in Porbandar.