Religious ghetto?: Srinagar shuts down over Hindu clusters plan

Pro-freedom leaders liken move with Israel's policy of building settlements

SRINAGAR: Srinagar was shut down on Saturday in protest against a government plan to resettle Kashmiri Hindus in separate townships after they fled the region more than two decades ago.

Streets were deserted, shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was thin on the roads in the capital city and other towns across the Kashmir Valley.

Tens of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus -- known as Pandits -- fled to Hindu-dominated areas of the disputed region and other parts of India in the wake of an armed insurgency against New Delhi's rule in 1990.

Earlier this week, the state's chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, announced the local government would acquire land to create "composite townships" for the Pandits.

The move, announced after Sayeed met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, sparked tension in the region, with pro-freedom leaders comparing it with Israel's policy of building settlements in occupied territory.

Mohammad Yasin Malik, chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front said the settlements would only add to hatred and mistrust between people.

Rally in Muzaffarabad

A rally was taken out in Muzaffarabad to protest against the setting up of separate clusters for Kashmiri Pandits in Indian-administered Kashmir Valley.

The protest rally was jointly organised by International Forum for Justice and Human Rights and Passban-e-Hurriyat, an organisation of the Kashmiri refugees of 1990 settled in Azad Kashmir. The protesters marched from the Centre Press Club to Gharipan Chowk.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2015.