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Binoo Joshi in Jammu
With election time nearing in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has once again renewed his appeal to nearly 350,000 Hindus to return to their homes in the valley.
A majority of the Hindus, who fled the Kashmir valley 12 years ago to escape persecution by Islamic militants, have settled in camps scattered over the Jammu region.
Abdullah has begun visiting the camps of Hindu migrants in the Jammu region as part of the National Conference government's preparations for assembly elections, though it is not clear when he would announce elections in the state.
The six-year term of the state assembly expires in October next year.
"The Kashmir valley is incomplete without you," the chief minister told migrants at Batal Balian in Udhampur, 66 km north of Jammu.
Abdullah said his latest effort is aimed at seeing that 'all Kashmiris are reunited in the valley and the brotherhood of old times is rejuvenated'.
"I am sure it will happen," he said.
But the Hindu migrants are not enthused by the latest appeals of the NC government that has repeatedly urged them to return ever since it came to power in the state in October 1996.
"We shall examine the proposal before making a decision on going back," said Brij Nath Raina at Muthi camp on the outskirts of the city.
The migrants said they would be willing to return to the valley provided the state government gave them definite assurances about their safety.
The chief minister has been promising the migrants employment, housing and security besides other facilities if they resettle in the valley.
Secessionist militancy in the state since 1989 has left nearly 30,000 dead, but the unofficial count is put at three times higher.
Indo-Asian News Service
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