A miffed Kashmir Samiti on Tuesday demanded that a joint parliamentary committee hear the travails of Kashmiri Pandits since Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had shown his 'contempt' for the community during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

"By not uttering a word about the Nandimarg massacre of Kashmiri Pandits, the prime minister has sent a clear message that he wants to appease the Muslims in J&K," Kashmir Samiti chief Sunil Shakdher told rediff.com.

"He wants friendship with Pakistan but is not concerned about us. The least he could have done is to exhort Kashmiri Muslims to protect the Pandits just like the majority community in the rest of India takes care of the minority community," he said.

He said Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani had assured him of speaking to N N Vohra (Centre's interlocutor on Kashmir) on their behalf.

"What can Vohra do when the prime minister himself has slammed the door on us?"

"Parliament is our last hope. We want a joint parliamentary committee to hear us out and we will also appeal to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to assess the situation in J&K."

Asked how Kashmiri Pandits could place their case before Parliament, Shakdher referred to the case of noted lawyer (and now Rajya Sabha member) Kapil Sibal taking up cudgels in the Lok Sabha on behalf of the Congress, which opposed the impeachment hearing of Justice V Ramaswamy.

The Kashmir Samiti -- which is a platform for Kashmiri Pandit organisations including Panun Kashmir -- was summoning its constituents 'for another meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee to secure a just deal for us'.

Share your comments

What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 21 Sub: Kashmiri Pandits Unhappy Kashmiri Pandits need not be unhappy with P.M. Somebody has rightly said that even if the P.M would have said in his speach about K.P's ... Posted by K.K. Kaul Sub: Kashmiri pundit, I feel really sorry for you I really fail to understand these honourable secular people. They talk so well when incidents like Gujarat happen. You really tend to believe that they ... Posted by Ayush Sub: Let us make our own destiny ! Kashmiri Pandits have to make their own place in this world and not depend upon politicians for our survival. Posted by Rajiv Wattal Sub: Thus Spake Vajpayee..! Vajpaye ji will say what USA wants him to say, otherwise he will have to go, like Blackwill to some University, preferably Gurukul Kangri. Posted by Avtar Kaul Sub: migrants in our own country It is a pity that we pandits are still migrants in our own country.In short all the politicians are the same.how can v expect vajpayee ... Posted by amit bamzai