Anupam Kher asks Kashmiri Pandits to fight for rights

Jammu, Dec 27: Actor Anupam Kher today asked Kashmiri Pandits to fight for their rights, especially their rehabilitation in the Kashmir Valley.

Kher also counselled Kashmiri Pandits to teach their children Kashmiri language.

"No body can stop the journey of progress of Kashmiri Pandits. While you should keep your wounds alive, you should also find the path (to achieve the goal of your return and rehabilitation in the Kashmir Valley).

"We don't have to seek anything in begging bowls... We should fight for our rights. Fight for your rights. When we were fighting war for freedom, we fought for our rights and that will make us victorious," Kher said at a programme to mark death anniversary of lawyer Prem Nath Bhat here.

"There is a need to keep wounds of pain alive, so that it keeps us in mode of struggle... You are heroes because you are not carrying your tragedy on your sleeves but you are carrying your tragedy in your heart. Yet you have capability of laughing in the difficult times," the veteran actor said, winding up his three-day visit to Jammu.

Flanked by film director Ashok Pandit, Kher said, "The moot question is that we should keep the sustenance for fight alive. We are now settled. It was important to settle in life and to have jobs. But we should not forget the fight and struggle. We should not only remember some specific dates but should ensure the fight of our existence throughout the year...365 days in the year."

Kher batted strongly for teaching the new generation the Kashmiri language so that it does not become extinct in the next two-and-a-half decades.

"The biggest challenge is to keep your language alive. You have to teach your children Kashmiri language. If your children cannot speak Kashmiri language, you will be blamed and responsible for that... There is a big challenge on this front. People are now in Jammu, there are cross cultural marriages, people have settled abroad...," he said.

The actor also said they would press for the passage of the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation) Bill, also known as the temple bill.

PTI