Where was Shaheen Bagh?: Bihar Dy CM Sushil Modi questions silence over Kashmiri Pandits

In an erratic statement, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi questioned the protesters of Shaheen Bagh for not raising their voices against the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley three decades ago. 30 years in exile, displaced Kashmiri Pandits across the world commemorated Jan. 19 as ‘holocaust day’.

They demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should settle the community living as “refugees in their own country” for the past 30 years at one place in the Valley. In a show of support for Kashmiri Pandits, Sushil Modi took on the agitators of Shaheen Bagh, who have been protesting against the Modi-led government and the amended Citizenship Act (CAA.) 

In a tweet, the Bihar Dy CM said, "Why Shaheen Bagh never raised their voice when religious minorities were forced to flee Kashmir 30 yrs ago?" [sic] However, netizens trolled Sushil Modi over his comment, for taking on Shaheen Bagh. Earlier in July 2019, while talking in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that the central government is committed to bringing Kashmiri Pandits and Sufis back to the Valley. However, almost six month after the abrogation of Article 370, there have been no reports of Kashmiri Pandits returning back to their homeland. 

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Shaheen Bagh protests 

On Sunday, Shaheen Bagh protests expressed solidarity with the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to leave the valley amid the soaring militancy. To mark the exodus, the protesters invited two prominent Kashmiri Pandits to speak on the occasion. Four Kashmiri Pandits also joined the demonstration running for over a month and demanded the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to ensure justice to those killed in the valley.

Kashmiri pandits consider ‘safety and security’ as the biggest hurdle in their return to their roots in the Valley. The displaced Kashmiri pandits across the world commemorated January 19 as ‘holocaust day’, when over 70 thousand pandit families numbering over 3.5 lakh were forced out of the Valley due to killings and terror by Pakistan sponsored terrorists in 1990.

The event this year was held against the backdrop of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act. The UPA-1 government had offered a rehabilitation package for KPs that proposed Rs 7.5 lakh to every Kashmiri Pandit family willing to return to the Valley. The Kashmiri pandits say their return to the Kashmir Valley is linked to employment, as the youths willing to return need to have a source of livelihood. In July 2019, BJP had planned to build camps to resettle the Hindus in the Kashmir valley. 

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(With PTI inputs)