Kashmiri Pandits should be settled in Kashmir Valley and given their homes, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said.
Naqvi, while addressing a gathering at a function 'Chain of Unity' here, backed Centre's plan for creating composite townships for 62,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandit families who had left the state at the onset of militancy in late 1980s.
"Those people were displaced and the wounds of losing ones home cannot be healed easily. For many years, they remained homeless. They should be given their homes and settled in their homeland. Their wounds should be healed and this thing must be understood and realised," Naqvi said.
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The issue of separate townships for Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley is being opposed by separatists, who claim that it will divide the people and pose security risks.
Meanwhile, Naqvi said the Muslim community wants a better future with social and economic security for which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is committed for.
He accused the previous UPA government of using Muslims as a vote bank.
"Muslim community was left behind on development path as the Congress and other so-called secular political parties deliberately exploited them and used it as vote bank. The situation has totally been changed under the NDA government," he added.
