India Rejects Pak’s Stand on Township For Kashmir Pandits

01 May, New Delhi

Indian rejected the stand Pakistan that creation of any dedicated townships in Kashmir Valley for displaced Kashmiri Pandits would change the demographic makeup of the state and be in violation of UN resolutions.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters outside Parliament House Thursday , the Kashmiri Pandits along with Muslims and Sikhs are an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir. He said every political party want to see that whosoever was uprooted and moved out, should be brought back in the State.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam earlier said that India cannot change the population mix by settling outsiders in the Kashmir Valley.

The new PDP-BJP Government had assured the Centre that it will soon acquire and provide land at the earliest for creating composite townships for displaced Kashmiri migrants in the Valley.

The assurance was given by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed when he called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi for the first time after taking oath. But, facing flak from opposition parties, the Jammu and Kashmir government made a U-turn on the controversial plans for composite townships in the Valley, saying they would be settled at their native places and not as an isolated community.