Nirmala attacks Congress for Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday attacked Congress over a series of tweets issued by its Kerala unit relating to Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced from the Valley during the 1990s following the outbreak of militancy.

“Your party’s (Congress) belief is that it was not because of terrorism, but the movement was due to lure of financial benefit and land offer in Delhi… another belief is there is a long battle between separatists and those who stand for India,” she said quoting the tweets. She was responding to the discussion on a budget totalling Rs 1.4 lakh crore for Jammu & Kashmir for 2022-23, which was passed by Lok Sabha.

She said the tweets by Congress with the hashtag #KashmirFiles vs truth on Sunday said that Kashmiri Pandits on their own left the Valley and not because they were forced. “Congress was an ally of the government at the time of the exodus and the then chief minister left the people to fend for themselves when terrorism was on the rise,” she said.

Under the Congress regime, the then Prime Minister met a separatist who had allegedly killed an Air Force officer and later conceded the same to a foreign TV channel, she said, referring to Manmohan Singh‘s meeting with Yasin Malik.

Members of Congress, NCP, TMC and National Conference walked out of the House in protest against the remarks after the speaker did not allow opposition members to intervene.

“Jammu & Kashmir was not normal under Article 370… there was fake normalcy prior to abrogation of Article 370… post abrogation there is no fake normalcy,” she said.

She assured the House that the government will fulfil the promises made with respect to rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

The finance minister said the budget 2022-23 for J&K is more than the Rs 1 lakh crore mark again, which is an indicator of commitment to make it a model of development.