The High Court said that the term Kashmiri Pandit does not include other Hindu castes in the Valley.
Srinagar:
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a recent judgment has held that not every Hindu living in the Kashmir Valley is a Kashmiri Pandit and cannot take advantage of special employment schemes for members of that particular community.
Dismissing a petition seeking inclusion of certain Hindu groups and Sikhs in the Prime Minister’s job package for Kashmiri Pandits, the court observed that the target group is a “separately identifiable community consisting of Rajputs, Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley”. Apart from Brahmins, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and many others,” Justice Sanjeev Kumar said in his judgment on Tuesday.
The petitioners had argued that Hindu groups other than the Sikh community have also suffered a great deal and should be considered for the same benefit as non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits.
However, the court said that the argument that they could be lumped together as Kashmiri Pandits was “absurd and cannot be accepted”.
“There is no denying that in common parlance, Kashmiri Pandits are a community of Kashmiri speaking Brahmins who have been living in the Valley for generations and are identified by their dress, customs and traditions,” the judge said.
“Thus, it is difficult to accept the contention of learned counsel for the petitioners, who are mostly Kshatriyas, Rajputs, Scheduled Castes, non-Kashmiri Brahmins (that they) should be treated as Kashmiri Pandits and admitted to the benefits of the Prime Minister. Minister’s revised package for the return and resettlement of Kashmiri migrants.”
As per the judgment, the only question that remains to be determined is whether the petitioners, who are not Kashmiri Pandits but are from other Hindu castes, can be brought under the definition of ‘Kashmiri Pandits’.
In 2009, the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, launched a Prime Minister’s “Package” aimed at facilitating the return and resettlement of Kashmiri migrants to the Kashmir Valley.
Under the scheme 6,000 government jobs were announced for migrant Pandits. While 4,000 posts have already been filled, 2,000 were recently advertised by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board.
Under a revised package announced last year, the government reserved jobs for Pandits who have not migrated from Kashmir. Such candidates are required to produce a certificate of “Non-migration” issued by the respective Deputy Commissioners.
However, the Deputy Commissioners refused to issue such certificates to non-Kashmiri Pandit Hindus.
The aggrieved groups then filed a petition before the High Court seeking inclusion in the package, saying it cannot be limited to just a group of beneficiaries.
The petitioners contended that the term “Kashmiri Pandits” used in SRO 425 of 2017 is sufficient to include all non-migrant communities and Hindu castes living in the Kashmir Valley and “non-migrant suffers the same as Kashmiri Pandits”. .
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