Displaced Kashmiri Hindus demand rehabilitation package

New Delhi, Jan 21 : Displaced Kashmiri Hindus have demanded that they be rehabilitated wherever they live.

"We asked for our rehabilitation. Now, it's our demand that we should be rehabilitated where we are living presently. Our People should be rehabilitated whether they are in Jammu, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, or anywhere in India," said Avinash Tikku, Vice President of Kashmir Samiti, an organisation fighting for the rights of displaced Kashmiri Hindus.

The demand was made during a procession to mark the anniversary of their mass exodus from the Kashmir Valley on January 20, 1990.

According to the National Human Rights Commission, about 300,000 Kashmiri Hindus or pandits have been forced to leave Kashmir because of the militancy. But Kashmiri groups peg the number of migrants closer to 500,000.

According to officials, the exodus began due to a sudden rise in the killing of Hindus and attacks by Muslim militants on homes owned by Kashmiri Pandits.

While some of the displaced have made their way to Delhi and other parts of the country, about 200,000 bitter and disillusioned Pandits are still languishing inrelief camps in Jammu.

ANI