Kashmiri pandits 'at home' with row

RESETTLEMENT PANGS: Kashmiri pandits are refusing to move into govt accomodations.

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Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government's plans to relocate displaced Kashmiri Pandits outside Jammu city, is snowballing into a controversy.

The pandits are now accusing the state government of reneging on the original settlement plan proposed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ever since they migrated here from the Valley, the pandits have been putting up at Muthi and Purkoo refugee camps in Jammu.

But with the state government planning to shift them to a new settlement in Jakthi - 18 km from Jammu city – resentment is palpable.

Refugees like 76-year old PN Pandit are opposing the plan saying Prime Minister had promised to construct new accommodations for them at Muthi and Purkhoo itself.

“I will not go there. They can't uproot me again. We can't afford to move. My son earns Rs 1,500 and if we are shifted from here, he will end up paying his entire salary on bus fare,'' says Pandit.

Pandit lives with his eight-member family in a dingy room in Muthi. The new settlement plan would mean families like his, would get spacious two-bedroom apartments in Jukti.

The J&K government is also planning to construct 4,000 such two-room flats in the first phase.

“There will be many facilities in these colonies. Besides parks, hospitals and schools would come up,” says Relief Commissioner, Vinod Kaul.

But the 500-odd families, putting up in stinking and congested rooms currently, are not ready to move out.

They allege the state government is trying to shift them, since they are taking up prime land in the city. “This is gross injustice. We will protest the move and we will die here,'' says vice president, Muthi camps, Ravinder Raina.

For these 3,500 pandits, it seems home is certainly where the heart is.