On the occasion of the 79th Independence Day yesterday , Mr. Omar Abdullah, while addressing the gathering at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar, spent nearly eighty percent of his speech highlighting the demand for the restoration of statehood, lamenting his so-called demotion

from being the Chief Minister of a full-fledged state to one of a Union Territory, and repeatedly expressing his wish to be blessed again as Chief Minister of a state. What is most painful, disappointing, and condemnable is that he completely ignored the grave and unresolved issues of the victimized and displaced Kashmiri Pandit community, a community that has been living in forced exile for the last thirty-six years.

He chose not to speak a single meaningful word about justice for the displaced Pandits who were subjected to killings, rapes, ethnic cleansing, and the barbaric forced exodus. He did not address the need for proper and practical

implementation of the Distress Sale Act so that looted and forcibly grabbed Pandit land, and properties are restored. He remained silent on employment avenues for displaced Pandit youth who are languishing in despair, silent on enhancement of the meagre relief amount that keeps thousands of Pandit families trapped in poverty and humiliation, silent on the demand to return illegally encroached land and property,

silent on the pitiable conditions of poor Pandit families who continue to live in camps and exile. On this sacred national day, he had not even a single word of compassion or assurance for the Kashmiri Pandits, the original victims of Kashmir’s tragedy.

What adds even more to the pain of our community is that even our Hon’ble Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address to the nation, maintained silence on the Kashmiri Pandit issue. Once again, the community felt ignored, isolated, and deliberately pushed to the margins of history.

This repeated neglect at both the national and regional level has left Pandits demoralised and speechless, with a deep sense of abandonment by those who should have been their voice.

Let it be remembered that a Chief Minister should be of such quality who can see, understand, and consider the issues of suffering and displaced people. But what has been the history of the Abdullah family? When his father Dr. Farooq Abdullah was Chief Minister, the Kashmiri Pandit community was abandoned and left in the jaws of death. Instead of protecting us

and standing by us in our darkest hour, he chose to save himself by running away to London, leaving his people behind in hell. It was during their regimes that the Kashmiri Pandit community suffered the most on every front—political, social, economic, cultural, and human.

During his current eight to nine months of rule as Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah never took any genuine or bold initiative to address the issues of displaced Pandits. No concrete steps were taken for rehabilitation, no measures were introduced to restore confidence, no real attempt was made to safeguard temples, shrines, or properties.

Instead, false promises, empty rhetoric, and political calculations dominated his policies, while the community continued to bleed in exile.

Today, when he stood on the podium of Independence Day, instead of expressing national responsibility and human compassion, instead of showing statesmanship and vision, he again reduced the entire discourse to his personal ambition for power. A man who does not even acknowledge the existence, suffering,

and rights of the original victims of Kashmir’s tragedy cannot be considered a true leader of Jammu and Kashmir. Leadership is not about self-centered speeches on statehood; it is about justice, empathy, responsibility, and courage to speak the truth. Unfortunately, Omar Abdullah once again failed this test.

This selective silence is not accidental; it is a deliberate disregard for the suffering, rights, and very existence of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Any speech that sidelines the pain of Kashmiri Pandits, who have been uprooted from their land for thirty-six long years, can never be considered complete, fair, or credible. By choosing statehood for himself over justice for the victims, Omar

Abdullah revealed where his priorities lie. And when both regional and national leaders alike fail to utter even a single word for Kashmiri Pandits on Independence Day, the sense of betrayal deepens.

[Kundan Kashmiri ]
President, Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC)
Sevak of the Displaced Community
Email: kundankashmiri@gmail.com
Mobile: 880 2167955