Rehab policy for militants "half-baked": PDP

PDP today said the rehabilitation policy for militants returning from Pakistan and its occupied Kashmir was "half-baked" and rushed through only to score "propaganda points".
"The much touted Rehabilitation Policy for the former militants is just a hoax.
"The government has not come up to the promises made to those who had returned from Pakistan...It has once again exposed the insensitivity of the rulers when it comes to dealing with the affairs of the state," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said addressing a public meeting at Tral, 35 kms from here.
She said backtracking on the promises made to the former militants, who braced unimaginable hardships and other pressures, is very "unfortunate".

"The government has turned a blind eye to a serious humanitarian issue- the education and social rights of their children and spouses. They had crossed the LoC as young people, but are returning with their families, risking their lives during their journey from Pakistan to Kashmir, but have been left high and dry," the Peoples Democratic Party leader said.
Mehbooba said the former militants face economic insecurity, are jobless and their children and spouses face an identity crisis, because of the "insensitive dispensation".

"In the given situation, their children face a dark future, as no school or college here is ready to admit them, and the rulers have forgotten them completely," she alleged.

"What was the fun of bringing them from fire pan and putting them on fire?" she questioned adding "if they are now returning to Pakistan, it should not surprise anybody."
Demanding "honourable rehabilitation" of the former militants, Mehbooba said "they should be allowed to live a dignified life along with their families.
"It is time that the half-baked policy is amended and the entry is allowed through local routes which has emerged as the central idea for the peace and resolution process," she said.