Modi's miss to flood-affected Pandit families ends their wait on sour note
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's miss during the Kashmir visit on Wednesday to meet or visit flood-affected families has left many disappointed, particularly the local Pandit community waiting outside the Raj Bhawan all day to have a glimpse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's miss during the Kashmir visit on Wednesday to meet or visit flood-affected families has left many disappointed, particularly the local Pandit community waiting outside the Raj Bhawan all day to have a glimpse.
"I waited all day to meet him and apprise him of our miserable condition," said Anju Raina, a resident of flood-hit Indira Nagar.
Raina and his son Abhinav Raina are putting up inside the Zeethyar temple premises, just metres away the Raj Bhawan, after floods devastated their home. "This is second internal migration since 90s," lamented Raina. "If he had come to meet flood-affected people then he should listen to us directly."
More than 200 flood-affected people are putting up inside the temple. "All we wanted to ask Modi ji was that he should provide us shelter for one year. We won't be able to return to our flood-damaged houses," said Virender War, another Pandit, who unlike others did not leave the valley in 90s.The non-Migrant Pandits alleged that the community is no more priority for the prime minister. "Modi ji made no progress on the Pandit agenda that he announced during election rallies," said Rakesh Pandita.
Many Muslim families also left the venue with a deep sense of disappointment as Modi decided to leave for Delhi without meeting the waiting crowd. "I saw ray of hope in Modi's visit that he will listen to the farmers who are not able to sell pear post-floods because there are no buyers. We had come with applications and FIR copy of our damaged houses and crops. But it seems he (Modi) is least bothered," said Habibullah Ahmad, who waited since noon till evening to meet Modi.
The Prime Minister may have disappointed the waiting flood-affected Pandits community but their representatives were able to put forth their demands before him. "I told the PM we are tired of handing over memorandums. The non-migrant Pandits are always excluded in the jobs and packages offered," said Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo, who met the PM.
