31 years on, Kashmir still home Pandits long for

By Zaffar Iqbal Jammu, Jan 17 : Sixty-five-year-old Pyare Lal Raina’s wish is to return to Kashmir, the land where he was born and spent the best years of his life.
Raina’s family is among more than 4,000 families that moved into a township for Kashmiri Pandits at Jagti, 25 kms from Jammu after the exodus of Pandits following outbreak of militancy in 1989.
Life has been tough for the Rainas in Jammu. The family had to move houses and in rented accommodations several times before settling down in Jagti township eight years ago.
At Jagti they were allotted two-room sets which were meant to make their lives a little more comfortable. But the colony of Kashmiri Pandits presents a picture of neglect. The houses are dilapidated, the walls damp with water seeping from blocked pipes.
“Some apartments for Kashmiri Pandits at Jagti are in a bad shape with water leaking,” Raina said. “We don’t get clean water. Nothing is being done to change our lot.” Around three lakh Kashmiri Pandits left the valley in the early 1990s after militancy erupted. Most of them settled in cramped transit camps for Pandits in Jammu.