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Bring temple bill or face agitation

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Bring temple bill or face agitation, AIKS to Omar Abdullah government
Jammu (India) February 22, 2010

Report and Images by Raman Raina

ll India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS) today warned that if the Temple bill is not introduced the Assembly session this time, Pandits will launch a agitation. Addressing a press conference, Moti Kaul, president of AIKS took a serious concern about the dilly dallying tactics of the government regarding passing of the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Temples Bill. "We have decided to come on roads if the bill is not introduced in the Assembly session and government will have to answer our questions, why there is so much delay", Kaul said. Accompanied by P.N Goja and Prof. Ravinder Kaul, AIKS president said that despite many assurances the bill has been lingering for so long and it seems that the government is not at all interested to take up the bill in the present session of assembly which had the first sitting today.

"Pandits will not allow assembly session to be concluded without passing the bill", he said. Kaul said that during the assembly session all pressures will be built to force the government to make ways to table the bill ion the forthcoming assembly session. KPs will come on the roads and fight tooth and nail during forthcoming assembly session to take this struggle to the logical conclusion. Regarding the employment package for the Kashmiri Pandits, unemployed youth, Kaul said that AIKS welcomes any move that is taken in the interest of the community. However when these posts were advertised, unlawful conditionality were attached with it. Attaching and fixing draconian, inhuman and insensitive conditions along with the package have virtually made us. He said that there is no provision for these youth in the employment package who have crossed the age bar. "Besides, our biggest concern is the security of those employed youth who will have to stay at the far-flung areas in Kashmir. It is also painful that after two decades of exile the government has come with the definition of a migrant and internally displaced persons which has created nothing but confusion" kaul said. Appealing to the apex committee members to be above the party line and genuinely respond to the challenges which the community is facing, Kaul said that we have the moral duty to the challenges. He said that the government gave lot of assurances, we have yet to see their implementation on the ground. The sincerity of the government shall depend on how they can make apex body genuinely relevant.

Regarding the return of displaced members, Kaul reiterated that unless the KP are politically empowered, the return can not be possible. KPs have always suffered in absence of political space in J&K.

AIKS has recently announced its advisory board of prominent KPs for the J&K which include, Dr K.L Choudhary, B.L Bhat, B.L Saraf, I.K Raina, Sham Koul and P.N Goja.

Raman Raina is Shehjar's Chief Photo Journalist based in Jammu, India.

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