NEW DELHI: Roots in Kashmir (RIK), a frontline advocacy group representing the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community, today strongly criticised both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Conference (NC) for once again denying political representation and empowerment to the Kashmiri Pandit and POJK (Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir) displaced communities in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Jammu & Kashmir.
Despite repeated assurances and decades of rhetoric about the “integration” and “rehabilitation” of displaced communities, both major political formations have failed to nominate even a single candidate from among the Kashmiri Pandits or POJK refugees — communities that have been forcibly exiled and politically voiceless for over three decades.
_“It is deeply disappointing that the same parties who routinely invoke the pain and sacrifices of Kashmiri Pandits and POJK refugees during election campaigns have once again excluded them from real decision-making and representation,” said Amit Raina, spokesperson for Roots in Kashmir. “This continuing denial of voice and visibility is not just political negligence — it is a moral failure.”
Roots in Kashmir noted that both the BJP and NC had ample opportunity to demonstrate sincerity towards inclusivity by nominating at least one member from these long-neglected segments of J&K’s demography, but chose not to.
“The Kashmiri Pandit community has been treated as a token constituency for far too long. Our pain is paraded, our culture is quoted — but our people are never empowered,” added Ashish Zutshi, Senior Member of Roots in Kashmir. “If the political mainstream cannot find even one credible Kashmiri Pandit or POJK representative worthy of nomination, it exposes how hollow their claims of justice and equality truly are.”
Roots in Kashmir has called on both parties to revisit their nominations and take immediate corrective action to ensure that displaced and marginalised voices find representation in Parliament. The organisation also urged both the parties to recognise that true democracy cannot exist without inclusion.
“Political empowerment is the cornerstone of dignity,” said Rahul Mahanoori in his statement. “Without seats at the table, promises of return and rehabilitation are empty words.”
