Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq Sahab,
Adaab,

Your statement delivered on January 21, 2026, at a prayer meeting held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, in which you described the return of Kashmiri Pandits as a humanitarian and ethical obligation, has drawn wide public attention. As someone speaking on behalf of a community that has lived through trauma, exile, and prolonged neglect, I feel compelled to respond with sincerity, responsibility, and respect, while also placing before you certain truths that cannot be overlooked.
First and foremost, it must be clearly stated that Kashmiri Pandits in displacement have never said that they would not return to Kashmir. This perception is incorrect. What the community has consistently maintained over the last thirty-five years is that return must be dignified, voluntary, secure, and based on justice. A return built only on emotion or moral appeal, without addressing the realities on the ground, would neither heal wounds nor ensure lasting peace.

Your appeal, however, inevitably raises difficult questions shaped by history. For a long period, you remained associated with the so-called Azadi movement, an ideological environment that coincided with the most tragic and destructive phase in Kashmiri Pandit history. It was during this period that an indigenous, peace-loving community was targeted, intimidated, and forced into exile. In this backdrop, Kashmiri Pandits naturally seek clarity. Have the ideologies that once legitimised exclusion, fear, and radicalisation been conclusively and publicly renounced? Without such clarity, calls for return, however well-intentioned, remain clouded by uncertainty.

Equally important is the memory of silence that still haunts our community. When Kashmiri Pandits were threatened, when families were killed, when temples were desecrated, and when slogans of exclusion echoed through the Valley, the community did not hear strong and sustained condemnation from influential religious platforms, including the pulpit of the Jama Masjid. Silence during injustice deepens wounds, and healing becomes difficult when that silence is neither acknowledged nor addressed.
Farooq Sahab, there is also a practical and deeply human question that remains unanswered: where exactly are Kashmiri Pandits expected to return? During the period when the movement you led or were part of dominated the Valley, a vast majority of our houses were burnt, destroyed, or forcibly occupied. Our lands and orchards were taken away under coercion, misuse of laws, or so-called distress sales imposed on families who were helpless, displaced, and absent from Kashmir. Many properties were lost through administrative manipulation and fear, leaving their rightful owners without any effective legal remedy. Today, countless Kashmiri Pandit families have no homes to return to, no land to cultivate, and no orchards to sustain their livelihoods. Without restoration of these properties or fair compensation at present market value, return becomes not rehabilitation, but renewed displacement within our own Kashyap Bhoomi.

It is also important to raise a question of safety with honesty and realism. When even your own family members, close associates, and prominent figures of the Valley could not be safeguarded in the past, how can you assure security to a completely defenceless and traumatised Kashmiri Pandit community? Even the Government has, at various times, expressed its limitations, stating that it cannot provide individual security or a policeman to every Kashmiri Pandit. In such circumstances, what concrete mechanism, structure, or assurance do you propose to protect Kashmiri Pandits who are being asked to return to isolated homes and scattered localities in the Valley? Appeals without a credible security framework only deepen anxiety rather than inspire confidence.

It is also difficult to overlook the irony that calls for dignified return are made while most leaders, including yourself, live under heavy security cover. Kashmiri Pandits, on the other hand, are being asked to return to an environment where trust has been broken, justice remains elusive, and safety mechanisms are undefined. The community, therefore, reasonably asks how its life, dignity, and future will be protected after return.
Let me reiterate, in a spirit of clarity and goodwill, that the Kashmiri Pandit community remains emotionally and civilisationally connected to Kashmir. We wish to return, but only under conditions that restore confidence and dignity. These include recognition of the genocide and ethnic cleansing we endured, credible investigation and justice for massacres and targeted killings, punishment of perpetrators, restoration or compensation of lost properties, recognition of our indigenous status, and the creation of a secure One Place Settlement in the Kashmir Valley with Union Territory status, full constitutional guarantees, administrative protection, and robust security so that our return is sustainable and peaceful.
Mirwaiz Sahab, Kashmiri Pandits are not a memory of the past, nor a symbol to be invoked for moral reassurance. We are a living community seeking justice, acknowledgment, and a future free from fear. Reconciliation cannot be achieved without truth, and trust cannot be rebuilt without responsibility.

It is our sincere hope that your words will evolve into actions that address these realities honestly and compassionately. Only when justice precedes reconciliation, and accountability replaces silence, can the return of Kashmiri Pandits become not just a moral statement, but a meaningful and lasting reality.
With great regards,

  SEVAK

[Kundan Kashmiri]
Kashmir Watcher | Civil Society Activist | Political Analyst | Freelancer,
Senior KP Leader & President
Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC)