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| Colonial - KP rehabilitation | | 
By B L Saraf
Referring to the Pandits return to Kashmir , my friend Zahir- Ud – Din has raised an important point , in his 20th instant column . He asks “ Are Pandits interested in the return ?” Then observes “ Pandits especially their youth are not ready to return . Some elderly people want to visit the Valley for nostalgic reasons but do not intend to settle permanently.”
Bear with a moment ! Answer to the point lies in a query raised and explained by Amartya Sen in his The Idea Of Justice -p 229 – 231 . He asks “Whether “ Process of Choice “ should be given some thought .” On analyzing the issue return of Pandits should find a perspective . Important attribute of democracy, according to Sen , is that it “ helps us in our ability to decide to live as we would like and promote the ends we may want to advance . We may , for example , want to make sure that we are not being forced into some state because of constraints imposed by others .” He explains the matter with the help of an illustration , which may find traction with the Pandit’s cause . Sen takes us to Kim , who , in scenario ‘A ‘ decides one Sunday to stay home than go out and does the same . In, what Sen calls , scenario ‘ C ‘ the thugs restraint Kim by commanding that he must not go out of his house , with the threat of severe punishment if he violates this restriction .
True, some young Pandits are gainfully employed outside , who in absence of decent earning avenues here may not like to return . Well , it could be said of many young KMS , who , too , are placed likewise and won’t prefer to come back for the same reason . But unlike KP youth they retain a choice to visit their home in the Valley as an occasion arises and fly back to their working destinations . KPs crave for that luxury .
Well , who has not left home to earn livelihood . So , one must understand that physical living at home is not that important as it is to have a sense of home . Thought of an anchorage always lingers in the mind and heart of an exile . Speaking in plain terms ,a right to live at a place ,correspondingly ,entails a right not to live there . Assuming, some KPs don’t feel like living in the Valley, presently , it should be their choice and not mean foreclosure of the return option .
Pandits should be enabled to rekindle the sense of belonging . Their right of ingress and egress has be acknowledged and protected without insisting on their fixed presence in the Valley .This has to be same way as it is available to the non- resident KMs ,who work elsewhere in the globe . After all they too don’t intend to live permanently in Kashmir . Why this discrimination ? This requires to be understood , both by the’ dithering ‘ KPs ‘ and the ‘ doubting ‘ KMs .
Pandits are living away from their home - not by choice but by compulsion of the circumstances . In worst case situation , if the proposition that they do not intend to come back is upheld then scenario ‘ A’ of the illustration of Kim has to be the benchmark ; and not the scenario ‘ C ‘ . Kim remained home on that Sunday in both the scenarios , yet in scenario “ A “ he retained choice to move out . That choice has to be restored to the KPs.
No doubt , physical presence in the Valley is strong indication of Pandit’s right to be there . But the right can’t be assessed solely on this score . That will be superficial understanding of the issue . Pandits do have a commitment to the home and a harboured sense to remain anchored to the moorings , may be constructively . To them , it weighs heavily than a mere physical presence . In the given situation , their physical presence in Kashmir may not be a culmination of the immediate desire. After all one cannot remain glued physically to the home all the time . Restoration of choice matters most . Let us dread the day when sense of home and anchorage dies in our heart .
Help may be found in the words of Amatya Sen “ We must examine whether a person’s capability to lead the kind of life she values should be assessed only by the culmination alternative that she would actually end up with , or by using a broader approach that takes note of process of choice involved , in particular the other alternatives that she could also choose , within her actual ability to do so .”
The polemical debate
over establishment of colonies is spurious. The Pandit rehabilitation has to be in the composite environs . Kashmir civil society’s role as a facilitator is cut out . But the parallel drawn between settling Pandits in the Valley and Israeli settlements in Palestine is farfetched and distasteful .
(The author is a Former Principal District & Sessions Judge.Feedback- [email protected] )
(Disclaimer: The views, observations and opinions expressed in above write up of Scoop News are strictly author's own. Scoop News does not take any onus or liability for the veracity, accuracy, validity, completeness, suitability of any of information in the above given write up. The information, facts or figures appearing in the write up in no way manifest the position, standpoint or stance of Scoop News and the Scoop News does not assume any encumbrance or answerability of the same.)
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