'Don't ignore Kashmiri Hindus': Ashoke Pandit saddened over invitee list for PM's J&K meet

Even as the leaders who attended PM Modi's all-party meet with top mainstream J&K politicians contend that the meeting went on in a cordial atmosphere with free-flow of discussion, there appears to be a gap. As has been highlighted by many on Republic's day-long coverage of the historic meeting, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit has expressed unhappiness over the exclusion of Kashmiri Pandits from the meeting which comprised 14 other leaders on Thursday.

The all-party meet chaired by PM Modi was attended by PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, NC's Omar & Farooq Abdullah, Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad, Apni Party's Altaf Bukhari, BJP's Ravinder Raina, People's Conference's Sajid Lone and others in a first-ever such meeting after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. 

Kashmiri Pandits find no representation in PM Modi's J&K all-party meet

Taking to Twitter, Ashoke Pandit noted that the Kashmiri Pandits were 'sad' as they found no representation in the all-party meeting with PM Modi. Sharing a video on Twitter, the filmmaker claimed that the meeting took place between the Centre and traitors, terrorists, the people who killed soldiers and left Kashmiri Pandits homeless and shared a message - 'don't ignore Kashmiri Pandits' - as PM Modi's J&K meet continued. 

('We are sad today! Because today is a meeting day! Meeting with the traitors! Meeting with terrorists Meeting with the people who made us homeless! Who killed our soldiers! We are sad today!' Ashoke Pandit wrote on Twitter)

As the all-party meet continued, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit received support on social media who also noted that it was unfair for the government to not invite any representatives from the Kashmiri Pandits. Meanwhile, Congress called for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits among five other demands placed before PM Modi at the all-party meeting on Thursday, as stated by Ghulam Nabi Azad.

PM Modi invites J&K mainstream leaders to 7LKM

Marking a first since the abrogation of Article 370, PM Modi invited top Kashmiri political parties - NC, PDP, Congress, Apni Party, CPM  to come to New Delhi for talks to bolster political activities in the Union Territory. The meeting held on June 24 at 3 PM, was chaired by PM Modi and attended by Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha, Home Minister Amit Shah, Home Secretary, amongst others. 14 politicians namely - NC chief Farooq Abdullah, NC vice-prez Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Tara Chand, J&K Apni party Syed Altaf Bukhari,  JKPC chief Sajad Lone, Muzaffar Baig, Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh, BJP leaders Ravinder Raina, Kavinder Gupta, and Nirmal Singh were also invited.