00:00My name is Chamalal Madhu.
00:02Mr. Madhu, you are a community member here.
00:06What difficulties are you facing?
00:09And what do you want the government to do for your welfare?
00:13All the Kashmiri Pandits who are living here.
00:15I am an individual person.
00:18My wife is with me.
00:20I don't have children here.
00:22We are only two.
00:24I say that ever since I have been here,
00:26I have not had any personal problem.
00:29I don't have any personal problems.
00:32I don't have any problems.
00:34Now, what does the government want regarding temples, etc.
00:37But if they are doing it,
00:39wherever they are,
00:41I have told you that I am taking care of a temple.
00:44I am fighting for that for the last six years.
00:48Since when have you been living here?
00:50I have been here from birth.
00:52I am running an 80th year of my life.
00:57The thing is,
00:59I was a Central Government employee.
01:02They gave me a court recommendation.
01:06Right from March 1990.
01:09I have been retired since 2005.
01:13After that, I have not gone anywhere.
01:17I go to the hospital in the winter.
01:19I go to the doctor for a month or two.
01:22But then I come back.
01:24How should the government think about Sanjeev?
01:27Definitely, it should not be on lips only.
01:30It should be in practical.
01:33On lips, by every government.
01:36There is the previous one, there is this one, there is that one.
01:39They say a lot.
01:41They say a lot, but nothing happens practically.
01:43Nothing is happening.
01:45So, you mean to say that the parties
01:48in the manifesto or during the elections,
01:51they should fulfil those promises?
01:53No, they don't.
01:55Not for us, but for the general public.
01:58Which manifesto has been fulfilled?
02:00They run their own agenda.
02:03To keep their seats tight, they run their own agenda.
02:07Whether it is the centre, or here, or anywhere else.
02:10What else is there?
02:12They tell me which country it is.
02:14In the last 10 years,
02:16roads have been built, this and that.
02:18Roads have been built up to villages.
02:21But where are the basic problems for the people?
02:24Every party has ensured in the manifesto
02:28that the return of Kashmiri Pandits
02:31is at the top in their manifesto.
02:33Do you think they will fulfil their promises?
02:36I don't think so.
02:38I don't think so.
02:40In 1996, when for the first time,
02:43our Farooq Sahib came,
02:45he gave the first statement
02:47that I want to stay on the path.
02:50Now see,
02:52till when he was there,
02:54he had his son with him.
02:56Did he do anything?
02:58Mahmood Bajji came.
03:00Did he do anything?
03:02He says he did everything.
03:04Since 2019,
03:06since the time of 370,
03:08our central government,
03:10the central government is at fault.
03:12The LGBTQ people are at fault.
03:14Tell me, what foolishness is this?
03:17What foolishness is this?
03:20What is your name?
03:22My name is Mahmood Bajji.
03:24Mahmood Bajji,
03:26elections are coming up.
03:28What do you think?
03:30The upcoming government
03:32is making promises,
03:34but all the parties are here.
03:36So what are the issues
03:38that the community in Kashmir is facing?
03:40See,
03:43elections are coming and going.
03:46Yes,
03:48for the time being,
03:50after 10 years,
03:52elections will come again.
03:54But I would also like to tell the people
03:56that the people should also understand
03:58that if we want to develop our area,
04:00then we should choose our own speaker.
04:03It is possible that
04:05the same speaker
04:07can develop that area.
04:09If you want to develop your area
04:11here and there,
04:13then I think that ground
04:15will not work.
04:17Kashmiri Pandits are
04:19only considered as a vote bank,
04:21which is being
04:23discarded after elections.
04:25Yes,
04:27that is what I think.
04:29And this is not something new.
04:31Every political party does this.
04:33They do it everywhere.
04:35It is not only the Kashmiri Pandits.
04:37It happens everywhere.
04:39It is not for everyone.
04:41Everyone has seen it.
04:43It is not for everyone.
04:45It is only for their own agenda.
04:47The people face it.
04:49The poor
04:51are poor.
04:53If Allah or God
04:55wants something,
04:57then maybe he will get it.
04:59But it is very difficult.
05:01It is not so easy.
05:03And a person should get up.
05:05I would also like to tell you
05:07that I was born in the family
05:09of a Kashmiri Pandit.
05:11If Kashmiri Pandits want to come back,
05:13then what can
05:15the majority community do?
05:17What can be the best
05:19reason and viable reason
05:21to bring back Kashmiri Pandits to the valley?
05:23See,
05:25as I said,
05:27the people
05:29who live here,
05:31their desire
05:33can bring back the Kashmiri Pandits.
05:35No matter how powerful
05:37a political person is,
05:39nothing can be done.
05:41We all have seen it.
05:43Secondly,
05:45the power of God.
05:49No one knows
05:51how and when he will change.
05:53That is the ultimate solution.
05:55When God wills,
05:57it won't take long.
05:59What is the biggest challenge
06:01for the Kashmiri Pandit community?
06:05It is a challenging challenge.
06:07Even if he is earning
06:09a good amount of money,
06:11well-dressed,
06:13has his own house,
06:15but his own country is his own country.
06:17For example,
06:19when you go away from your home,
06:21you also feel that
06:23you have to go back.
06:25Same is the case.
06:27We are scattered.
06:31You can see that we are well-dressed,
06:33but we miss our country from within.
06:37This is our merge.
06:41No matter how much
06:43we get outside,
06:45our home is our home.
06:47Every time you come from Noida to Srinagar
06:49and go to her home,
06:51how is the feeling?
06:53I can't express it.
06:55Because I want to thank
06:57the same God
06:59that at least
07:01for the last 25-30 years,
07:03I have been coming here
07:05and I am getting the water
07:07and air here.
07:09I say, God, this is also a lot for me.
07:11If this is really called Kalyug
07:13and it is so difficult
07:15in this world at this time,
07:17if you are giving me this chance,
07:19then this is also a lot for me.
07:21Jai Sharda! Jai Sharda!
07:23I would like to request one more thing.
07:25I would like to request my Kashmiri people
07:27that
07:29our Sharda Mata
07:31is now in Pakistan,
07:33in Jammu and Kashmir.
07:35At the time of 1947,
07:37this area was separated.
07:39So from 1947 to now,
07:41we have a total of 51 Shakti Peeths.
07:43There are 18 Mahasakti Peeths.
07:45So in these 18 Mahasakti Peeths,
07:47there is only one Shakti Peeth
07:49where worship and worship
07:51is not possible.
07:53My name is Babluji Bhatt.
07:55I was a government employee.
07:57I am from the Food and Supplies Department.
07:59But I have been living here for 19 years.
08:01I have been taking care of this temple
08:03and doing worship.
08:05Sir,
08:07what are the problems
08:09of the community here,
08:11the Kashmiri Pandit community?
08:13The problem is that
08:15the non-migrant people
08:17who live here,
08:19the Kashmiri Pandit people
08:21who want to come back
08:23101%
08:25but the reason is
08:27that they do not have a home.
08:29If they had a home,
08:31then by December,
08:33all the Kashmiri Pandits
08:35would come back
08:37to their country.
08:41So what do you think,
08:43what advice would you like to give
08:45to the coming government
08:47for the welfare of the Kashmiri Pandits?
08:49Look,
08:51I am telling you one thing
08:53that if something happens,
08:55it will be seen.
08:57But whatever has been said
08:59in these 35 years,
09:01whatever has been said for us,
09:03whether it was any government,
09:05but they just
09:07made a dialogue,
09:09but no work has been done
09:11on the ground level.
09:13Yes, one work has been done,
09:15some cowhatters of the PM package
09:17have been made by the government.
09:19If there are 6,000 employees,
09:21the cowhatters have been made,
09:23but 2,500 children
09:25live on rent.
09:27So first of all,
09:29if the government
09:31had thought about them,
09:33then maybe the next step
09:35would have been better.
09:37A lot of work has been done,
09:39but a lot more work
09:41is still left.
09:43The entire temple is deserted,
09:45the ashram is deserted,
09:47the temple is deserted.
09:49If the government has done 10%,
09:515%, then 90% of the temple
09:53has not been completed yet.
09:55All of them are deserted.
09:57Your name?
09:59Sandeep.
10:01Sandeep ji, elections are coming
10:03and every party is putting
10:05the return of Kashmiri Pandit
10:07at the top of the manifesto.
10:09How do you see this?
10:11Kashmiri Pandit has become
10:13a toy for every political party.
10:15I remember my name
10:17in the elections.
10:19In the elections, everyone says
10:21that we will bring back the migrants,
10:23we will give them jobs and packages,
10:25but this is just a show.
10:27Practically, we have not seen anything
10:29and there is no hope in this election.
10:31Because the article was
10:33raised five years ago,
10:35elections used to take place
10:37in Kashmir before that,
10:39but Kashmiri Pandit has become
10:41a toy.
10:43We play with our emotions
10:45even today.
10:47Your community has suffered a lot.
10:49In fact, families were split
10:51and scattered.
10:53Do you think that the government
10:55will ever take your rehabilitation
10:57seriously?
10:59If the government would take
11:01the rehabilitation seriously,
11:03especially for the Pandits
11:05who live in Kashmir,
11:07then the Kashmiri Pandits
11:09would not be here.
11:11They would not be on private jobs.
11:13If the government would take
11:15the rehabilitation seriously,
11:17then the 500 people here would
11:19not be on private jobs.
11:21When we applied for 9,000 jobs,
11:23did we not get a package for 500 people?
11:25We are not Indians.
11:27We are not from any other community.
11:29We have a different behavior.
11:31If the government is serious,
11:33then our conditions are not good.
11:35There are many Pandits here
11:37for whom there is no food.
11:39But the government is never serious.
11:41If the government is serious,
11:43then there is no need
11:45to talk about migration.
11:47Can you tell us
11:49about the issue of migration?
11:51I have already told you
11:53that the girls here are unemployed.
11:55I have already told you
11:57that I did not have any issue
11:59with the migrants.
12:01But the people here should also get a package.
12:03The return of Kashmiri Pandits
12:05has always been the agenda
12:07of political parties.
12:09Many elections have been won
12:11and lost over this issue.
12:13But will the parties
12:15move beyond their promises
12:17and manifestos and ensure
12:19safe and dignified return
12:21of Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland
12:23will only be known
12:25when Jammu and Kashmir gets a new government
12:27in October.
12:29With camera person in Fanshawe,
12:31Izhar Ali in Srinagar
12:33for One India.
12:39For live UN video visit www.un.org
Comments