Christian council spearhead peace initiative in Kashmir

The exodus of Hindus in Kashmir Valley has left poignant agonies that long called for redressal. A Christian council has taken an initiative to address this by spurring the exiled Kashmiri Pundits to return to the Valley.

The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) last month facilitated a trip of several Pundit families who are on exile to visit their native villages in Kashmir.

At least 15 members of some Pundit families traveled to Srinagar with the help of NCCI, Christian Conference of Asia and the India Peace Centre.

"We met Pundit Leaders like Dr. Agni Sekhar and Mr. Satish Munshi and All Party Huriyat Leaders like Janab. Syed Saleem Geelani and Janab. Naquash, Prof. Dr. Moor Ahmad Baba of the Kashmir University," said Christopher Rajkumar, executive secretary of the NCCI Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation. "All of them welcomed the initiative and promised to extend their full cooperation."

Besides APHC and Hindu Pundits, human right and peace activists, advocates and academicians joined the travel to Srinagar.

Janab. Syeed Saleem Geelani in his welcome speech said, "Kashmir Valley is incomplete without our Pundit brothers and sisters." He urged them to return and live in peace and unity.

Reiterating the sworn stand of the APHC, Janab Mohemmad Yusuf Naqash stated, "We believe in co-existence and believe in letter and spirit that Kashmiri Valley Community is incomplete without Pundit brethren."

"We tender our apology to our Pundit brethren for all the agony they underwent in the last twenty years, and invite both the Muslims and Pundits to come together to build a cordial situation for the return of our Pundit neighbours," he added.

He promised all solidarity to the Pundit fraternity during their visit to their native place and also places of worship. And further he requested that the NCCI as a neutral body create more such platforms for dialogue and discussion.

95% of the Kashmiri Pundits left their homeland in 1990 due to the alleged ethnic cleansing carried out by several Islamic militant groups. The violence subsequently forced the 400,000 strong Kashmiri Pundit population to live as refugees in neighboring states.

While the media still reports of violence and abuse in the Valley, Christopher of NCCI snubs them and calls it "myths spread by the international and national media."

"The city we saw is calm and normal. It is our responsibility to inform the world that peace prevails," he said.