BJP making crores out of the agony of Kashmiri Pandits but hasn’t done anything to rehabilitate them: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits immediately; donate all money earned from the movie to their welfare: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
The movie has earned 200 crores showing their pain it is high time it’s made free to watch on YouTube: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
BJP spent 32 years playing politics over Kashmiri lives and is now promoting Kashmir Files: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
BJP in power in Centre and Kashmir for 8 years, why have they not helped Kashmiri Pandits?: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Kashmiri Pandits struggled for survival in Delhi for 25 years; BJP leaders didn’t even meet them: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
BJP should learn how to support Kashmiri Pandits from CM Arvind Kejriwal: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
Kejriwal Government gave permanent jobs to 233 Kashmiri teachers; pays Rs 3,250 per month to the victims of the exodus: Dy CM Manish Sisodia
NEW DELHI:
Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia continued the AAP Government’s series of attacks on BJP for trivialising the pain of Kashmiri Pandits. In an address made during the Vidhan Sabha session, the Deputy CM lashed out saying that the BJP cares about ‘The Kashmir Files’ while AAP cares about Kashmiri Pandits. He stated — BJP is making crores out of the agony of Kashmiri Pandits but hasn’t done anything to rehabilitate them. The Kejriwal Government gave permanent jobs to 233 Kashmiri Pandit teachers. Kashmiri Pandits struggled for survival in Delhi for 25 years; BJP leaders didn’t even meet them. BJP has been in power in Centre and Kashmir for 8 years, why have they not helped Kashmiri Pandits? BJP spent 32 years playing politics over Kashmiri lives and is now promoting Kashmir Files. Rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits immediately. Donate all money earned from the movie to their welfare. The movie has earned 200 crores showing their pain. It is high time it’s made free to watch on YouTube.
Shri Manish Sisodia said., “The simple fact of the matter is that while the opposition is enamoured by a mere film that is Kashmir Files, we are concerned about the actual Kashmiris. Now that we have raised the topic of Kashmiri lives, they are hiding face and choosing to run away because they have no answers to the real questions that being raised – The instances which occurred during Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Shri Jagan Mohan’s time is a matter of a more distant past, but in the past eight years, the BJP has continuously held power both in Kashmir and in the Centre. The crucial question which arises is that why are our Kashmiri brothers and sisters still displaced after such a long time, after 32 whole years? The BJP has consistently brought forward the promise of solving the troubles of displaced Kashmiris in their manifesto in every election season, but failed to deliver every time. What is the reason behind the BJP’s failure to fulfil this promise?”
He continued, “Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj has placed a proposal in the assembly today which I wholeheartedly support that the BJP has been incompetent and an absolute failure in rescuing Kashmiri lives and solving their grievances, and their misgovernance should be staunchly condemned on a public forum. For 32 years, the party has practised petty politics in the name of Kashmiris. The last 8 years have given you the power, both in the Centre and Kashmir to ensure that they are rehabilitated. But what did you do? The Prime Minister, as well as the entire Bharatiya Janata Party, has failed miserably in this regard and should be in shame. They’ve been doing politics in the name of Kashmiri Pandits for 32 years, and now that they’ve been in power for 8 years. They should have assured each and every Kashmiri brother and sister of access to their own land and property in Kashmir. Many displaced people may claim that they have found a safe haven in the places that gave them refuge and may not want to go back. Today, the third generation of these displaced families are among us. At least we should have the option to hold our grandchildren’s hands and show them that we were born in this house. Narendra Modi ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party should at least arrange this much.”
He added, “They have been in power for eight years. For 32 years, Kashmiris who have been displaced within their own country have suffered, and Delhi and various states have given them refuge and have aided them. The Delhi Government is also providing 3,250 rupees per person on a regular basis. If a family has four members, each receives thirty-two hundred and fifty rupees. Today I talked to the MLAs. These victims also live in the Pamposh Enclave of my assembly constituency. Not one has gone back. This is the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 8 years. If we talk about the movie, you shout, and if we talk about Kashmiris, you get up and leave. Because they have no answer. Because they don’t have any purpose. They have not done anything, nor do they have any intention. Learn from Arvind Kejriwal ji. For 25 years these families were struggling, no one would listen to them. There were teachers being threatened in the national capital. All they wanted was permanent jobs. BJP didn’t help them. Arun Jaitley ji himself presented budgets but never talked of them. Only CM Kejriwal came to their rescue.”
Shri Manish Sisodia said, “233 Kashmiri migrant teachers were struggling to get regularised for years in Delhi. They were contractually employed. They were forced out overnight, they didn’t have time to collect certificates. These Kashmiri teachers were threatened of being fired if they didn’t produce certificates. It was CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal who decided to support them and regularise their employment. He understood that it was the responsibility of the whole country to heal their wounds. A Kashmiri Pandit teacher named Pappi Koul told me about her problem. She had gotten a permanent job but wasn’t being paid pension after retirement. Why? Because the Service Department, controlled by the BJP through the Centre, placed frivolous roadblocks in it. I took it up with the CM. He was also shocked that a woman who served the state for 30 years is being made to go through all this. That she was being made to go through this after seeing an exodus, after being a temporary employee for 25 years. Somehow the Kejriwal Government regularised her employment and now she was struggling for pension. CM Kejriwal had no time for the department’s nonsense. He issued an express direction — take an affidavit that states her papers were burnt during the exodus, consider that to be sufficient and clear her pension.”
He continued, “This is what the Kashmiri Pandits of this country are looking at today as they live in Delhi and Noida. They’re seeing how different governments treat them. They want governments that sympathise with them, who understand they’re victims of an exodus and not jaywalkers trying to get jobs. The central government has made a joke out of their pain. It has been eight years the BJP has been in power, the Kashmiri Pandits are looking at them in hope that they’ve power now, they can let them go and experience their homeland. They want to go back and show their children the apple orchards they grew in, they want to share their childhood with them too. At least give them the right to claim what is theirs!”
He added, “They want the country to stand with them. They want them to empathise with what they have faced. It is fine that someone made a movie on them. Let’s not go into its quality, that’s something we will speak of after watching it. I have followed Kashmir very closely, I have seen what their pain looks like. They want the country to understand what they went through in 1989-90. They don’t want it to be trivialised and be sold for some 200 crores. They don’t want the BJP to profit off their pain. All CM Kejriwal said was that they’ve earned 200 crores, if they care so much about the Kashmiri Pandits, they’ll put up the movie on YouTube. At least the slum dwellers who live next to Pamposh Enclave, Trilokpuri, Kondli would be able to see what the Kashmiris had to face. I want the country to see their pain, I want them to feel it, but I can’t see anyone mint money by selling their pain.”
The Deputy CM continued, “The film has picked up on a huge agony, I want the people to see it but not to cause benefit to someone. The BJP has promoted the film day and night, they can at least ask the producers to take account of how sensitive the issue is? They can ask the producers to make the movie accessible. They can ask the producers to give the Kashmiri Pandits the money that the film has made by selling their pain. Their homes are still waiting for them. Donate all the money this movie has made, they’ll go on their own and get their homes fixed. It won’t erase their agony but it will give them hope for a better future. With folded hands I plead in front of the Centre and ask — Rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits. They have suffered long enough. You have been in power for long enough. It is time to act now. If you think this film can help relive the dark days of our history, then make it free to watch on Youtube. End all this drama. Make the movie accessible. Lastly, donate all the money earned by selling their pain in efforts towards their welfare and getting them their homes back.”