SRINAGAR: With Parliament passing the bill authorising the Lt Governor to nominate two Kashmiri Pandit members to the J&K Legislative Assembly, a Pandit group has demanded reservation of three Assembly seats for the community instead of nominating the members to the House.
Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) president Sanjay Tickoo said that nominating two members of the community to J&K Assembly by Lt Governor won’t serve any purpose. “This is not in the betterment of the community. Nominating Pandits to the Assembly is a token of freebie to keep the community silent with another bag of alms,” he said.
Tickoo said that members of the Assembly, who are similarly nominated, will not have the same respect and dignity as those who are elected to the seat and represent the people. “The nomination to Assembly is more like a toothless tiger or more specifically, a zoo tiger that has been tamed and intimidated by its master,” he said.
The KPSS president advocated that three Assembly seats in J&K should be reserved for the Pandits in order to empower the community. According to Tickoo, three seats in Valley --- one seat in North Kashmir, Bijbehara seat in South Kashmir and Habba Kadal seat in Central Kashmir’s Srinagar should be reserved for Pandits. “It will make binding on the political parties to field Pandit candidates in three seats and some can also contest independently for these seats,” he said.
Empowering community
KPSS president Sanjay Tickoo said that three Assembly seats in J&K should be reserved for the Pandits in order to empower the community. Nominating Pandits to the Assembly is a token of freebie to keep the community silent with another bag of alms,” he said.