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  Intl. & NRI News |
| Kashmiri Pandits urge US to declare them as refugees |
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Intl. & NRI News |
| Kashmiri Pandits urge US to declare them as refugees |
Source: PTI; August 7, 1999
WASHINGTON: The Kashmiri Pandit community in the United States has urged Washington to declare them as refugees and persuade the United Nations and the Indian Government to do the same.
A delegation of Panun Kashmir, which met Congressman Frank Pallone and other members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, also urged them to persuade Congress to urgently allocate ten million dollars as aid to refugees from the Valley as a token of US support.
The delegation pointed out that though the community had fled their homes under duress the Indian Government insists on recognising them as migrants. Some 3,50,000 are estimated to have fled the state after Pak-sponsored militancy first reared its head in 1989.
Members of the delegation welcomed the recent US condemnation of terrorism and urged the Clinton administration to use its influence to prevail upon Pakistan to close down all terrorist camps in Pak-occupied Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference afterwards yesterday, Panun leaders said creation of a Union Territory for the community in Kashmir was the only way to ensure that its rights and privileges are respected. We have no intention of going back and living under the servitude and tyranny of fundamentalists....We are seeking a homeland of our own. This homeland will be a Union Territory within Kashmir...Where all Indian citizens enjoy full rights.
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 Intl. & NRI News |