[Reader-list] Kashmiri forum stages rally in Toronto

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

*Kashmiri forum stages rally*
Wednesday September 3 2008

Link - http://www.southasianfocus.ca/community/article/55760
The Indo-Canadian Kashmir Forum (ICKF) and Kashmiri Overseas Association of
Canada (KOAC) held a successful rally in Toronto outside the Indian
consul-general's office over the weekend, to highlight the plight of the
aboriginal people of Kashmir, the Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs, who they say
were driven out of the valley by armed Islamic fundamentalists in January
1990.

Demonstrators holding placards and banners expressed their concern over the
Indian government's indifference towards their plight and demanded they be
given the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) status that will pave the way
for their political empowerment in the state legislature.

"These Kashmiri aboriginals continue to live in refugee camps in Jammu,
Udhampur and Delhi regions and are scattered all over the country, and the
Government of India continues to call them 'migrants' in official
documentation," noted Dr. Ashok Koul, president, ICKF, in a written
statement.

"The placards highlighted the ethnic cleansing aspect of Hindus and Sikhs by
Islamists, and reiterated they were forced to leave the land of their
ancestors at gunpoint, and that they did not leave on their own accord as
the word 'migrants' would suggest."

Reiterating their demand of safe return to Kashmir with honour and dignity,
volunteers and activists chanted slogans to assert that aboriginal Kashmiris
were the founding members of the 8,000-year-old Indian civilization.

Koul hoped India will address the demands of Kashmiri Hindus and reserve
legislative assembly seats for the displaced community while in exile. He
also urged Muslims in the valley to not support fundamentalist views.

The ICKF president also condemned the role of certain Kashmiri separatist
and "pseudo-secularist" politicians from the valley in engaging in false
propaganda, including certain organizations and their supporters living in
Canada.

Agreement

Commenting on the latest developments, Kanayalal Raina, who has a deep
understanding of the issue and is himself a Kashmiri Pandit, observed:
"Fortunately this weekend's agreement between the Jammu and Kashmir
government and the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS) is the first
bit of good news to come out of the troubled Jammu region, which has been
witnessing violent protests for the past 64 days, with even more unfortunate
repercussions in the Kashmir valley."

He hoped that with the core issue out of the way, other irritants would be
sorted out amicably.

"The government has agreed to set aside 40 hectares of land at Baltal and
Domail without any payment to allow the shrine board to make temporary use
of it during the yatra period. While the exclusive use of the land has been
given to the board, what must be underlined is that the proprietary status,
ownership and title of the land shall not undergo any change. The board will
use the land for the duration of the yatra, including the period of making
the required arrangements and winding these up.

"The Jammu agreement has shown that all issues can be settled amicably
across the table, once reason, and not passion, comes to prevail," Raina
added.