Kashmiri Pandit community holds rally in Melbourne to support revocation of Article 370

The Kashmiri Pandit community in Australia on Sunday held a rally here in support of the Indian government's move to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Joined by other members of the Indian-Australian community, the rally was held from Victorian state parliament to Federation Square. People carried tricolours and posters that read "J-K is our motherland... India is our nation" and sang patriotic songs during the rally.

The Kashmiri Pandits told personal stories of how they were driven out of their ancestral homeland back in 1989-1990 due to militancy.

"Back in 1990, one day my father-in-law came home and told us we have to leave within 15 minutes. Imagine leaving your whole life behind you and pack your belongings in a couple of suitcases within 15 minutes, never to return home. That was just the beginning of a long struggle ahead," said a Kashmiri Pandit.

A similar rally was earlier held in Washington DC by Kashmiri Pandits from various parts of the United States, during which they had raised slogans in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the "bold and historic step".