Congress demands white paper from Modi govt on 'plight of Kashmiri Pandits'

The Congress on Thursday attacked the BJP over the alleged exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from south Kashmirs Shopian district and demanded that the Modi government release a white paper on the plight of the minority community during its eightyear ruleThe opposition party also hit out at the BJPled Centre over the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir and said the government must apologise for itAs terrorists carried out a number of targeted killings recently 10 Kashmiri Pandit families left their village Choudharygund in Shopian out of fear and reached Jammu according to residentsMembers of the minority community who have since been camping in Jammu ruled out any plan to return to the ValleyAlso read Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board scam CBI arrests BSF medical officerHowever authorities in Shopian have attempted to put on a brave face by claiming no exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has taken place from the districtAddressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here Congress media department head Pawan Khera said that when the first migration of Kashmiri Pandits took place in 1989 V P Singhs government was in office with the BJPs supportIn 1986 when the first riot against Kashmiri Pandits took place Rajiv Gandhis government was in office at the Centre Kashmiri Pandits walked from the national stadium to Rajiv Gandhis office he heard them and Ghulam Mohammad Shahs government was brought down Khera saidThe BJP only talks of zero tolerance but what it actually means was shown by Rajiv Gandhi he claimedSlamming the Centre Khera said 70 ministers of the government are carrying out an outreach programme in Kashmir and asked if any of them visited a camp of Kashmiri PanditsWhat is this outreach when you cannot reach out to the Kashmiri Pandits living in the camps there he askedCiting an order the Congress leader also alleged that Kashmiri Pandit employees are being threatened to return to work against their wishesThere have been 30 targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits from January to October this year he claimedWe demand a white paper from the Modi government on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits In the last eight years all that has been done and not been done by this government should come out in that white paper Khera saidYou the government will have to answer for the 80 killings How is this normal answer this he addedAsked about Union Minister Kiren Rijijus article titled 75th Anniversary of Five Nehruvian Blunders on Kashmir Khera said those leaders of the BJP who are students of WhatsApp nursery need to revisit their history classesIf all that they are saying is true how is it that during the Manmohan Singh era targeted killings stopped and 75 per cent of the people would participate in the democratic process of elections in the state We would be happy to get the answer to that he saidThe BJP leaders have no idea of contemporary history of the country he saidIt is very easy to blame Jawaharlal Nehru for this Indira Gandhi for something else PV Narasimha Rao for something else and Manmohan Singh for the rest Khera saidGive us answers You have been in power for eight years What has been your achievement in those years in Jammu and Kashmir You cannot hold elections You cannot protect Kashmiri Pandits Is that your achievement You must apologise for what happened in 1989 you must apologise for what is happening now he said attacking the BJPled CentreKashmiri Pandit Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists outside his ancestral house in Shopians Choudharygund village on October 15On October 18 Monish Kumar and Ram Sagar were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists while they were asleep in their rented accommodation in ShopianThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever