A war of words has broken out between two well-known Bollywood actors, Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, over who can fight for Kashmiri Pandits.
Taking a potshot at Anupam Kher, who has been vocal about his fight for Kashmiri Pandits, Naseeruddin Shah had said on Friday, "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person." Shah was in the national capital to promote his latest release 'Waiting'.
Kher, a Kashmiri Pandit, was quick to respond and tweeted, "By that logic, NRIs should not think about India at all". Kher has been vocal about his fight for Kashmiri Pandits and had last month urged the government to build "first smart city" for the displaced community in Kashmir Valley and said he felt that the Article 370 (which prohibits Indian citizens from other parts of the country from purchasing land or property in the state) should be abolished.
In India, there are around 62,000 registered Kashmiri Pandit families who migrated during the nineties from the Valley due to rising militancy in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had earlier this month informed the Centre that it had identified three areas for rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants. The Narendra Modi government had kept the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants on top of its agenda and had sanctioned Rs 500 crore in its first budget itself.