Return to Kashmir constitutional right of Pandits: Jitendra Singh

JAMMU: Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh today said the return of Kashmiri Pandits is not only their birthright but also their constitutional right and the NDA-led Centre was working to bring them back.

"The return of Kashmiri Pandits is not only their birthright but also their constitutional right as well. We want that he goes to his house with honor, with dignity. It is not only the responsibility of the government but of the entire country," Singh told reporters here.

He said the BJP-led Centre was working to finish the unfinished task of the previous coalition government and that the opposition must appreciate and cooperate in this.

"During the last ten years, they were in power in the Centre (Congress-led UPA) and in Jammu and Kashmir (NC-led coalition). It would have been better if they had accomplished their work, but they could not do it. But now if the BJP government is trying to accomplish their unfinished task then it is their duty to cooperate and should desist from such avoidable controversies," he said.

Stating that BJP has always supported the issue, Singh stressed that the return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandit community was a bigger issue that must not get embroiled in any politics.

He said Kashmir was incomplete without Kashmiri Pandit community.

"We always praise Kashmir, Kashmiri culture, but Kashmir is incomplete with the Kashmiri Pandits," he said.