People participate in a protest and raise slogans during a protest over various demands for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, in Jammu. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced from their homes in the Valley have been touring the State to gauge if conditions are suitable for the community’s return.
On Monday (June 15, 2026), they called for “a structured phase of engagement” and demanded a commission of inquiry after “formal recognition of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide as part of public policy”.
“A week-long heritage tour and a two-day international conference, Pragaash (first light of a dawn) in Srinagar voiced a deep yearning for a return to their homeland. Pragaash is not a celebration — it is a declaration. We walked on our own soil, visited our own temples, and told the world: we are here, we shall return, and we will not be erased. This is a first victory, but only a first one,” said Dr. Surinder Koul, head of the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora.
A number of Pandit organisations passed a joint resolution on Monday after the two-day conclave in Srinagar. The groups that participated included the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD), Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM), US-based Kashmiri Overseas Association, Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj, Sanjeevani Shardha Kendra Kashmiri Pandits’ Association, Mumbai, and the AIl Minority Employees Association of Kashmir.
The joint resolution called upon both the Centre and the Government of the Union Territory of J&K “to formalise community engagement through official mechanisms at the highest levels, with broad, representative, and accountable participation of Kashmiri Pandits worldwide”.
It also pressed for the formal recognition of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide in public policy and urged the establishment of an appropriate commission of inquiry. “The term ‘genocide’ has increasingly entered public discourse and is now used by public representatives and government officials. Delegates emphasised that recognition must move beyond rhetoric and be reflected in official policy, institutional action, and historical documentation,” it added.
It also proposed the constitution of the Kashmiri Pandits Welfare Board “anchored under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the J&K Reorganisation Act framework, to coordinate welfare, housing, rehabilitation, and property recovery”.
Pandits who stayed
The Pandit bodies also referred to Pandits who stayed in Kashmir and urged that they “receive welfare”, as well as those of employees working under the Prime Minister’s Special Package. “We demanded improvements to their security, housing, service conditions, family welfare, mobility, and mental well-being — recognising their resilience as a foundation for the broader community’s eventual return”, said the joint resolution.
According to the resolution, approximately 3.50 lakh community members were “forced to flee the Kashmir Valley amid violence and persecution, scattering across Jammu, Delhi, and countries around the world” in 1989-1990.
These displaced Pandits also demanded a township in Srinagar’s Rainawari and urged the community “to start greater investment in Kashmir”.
Meanwhile, two organisations, Roots in Kashmir and Youth for Panun Kashmir, distanced themselves from the conclave and termed it “an attempt to undermine the long-standing demand for a separate homeland”.
Published – June 15, 2026 11:26 pm IST
