SRINAGAR, 7 June 2004 — The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir has flagged off a major political campaign to bring back Hindus who left the province in the wake of an increasingly violent separatist insurgency since 1989.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed announced the new initiative here recently.

Estimates of Kashmiri Hindus — better known as Pandits — who migrated from the region range between 250,000 and 700,000.

Their plight is often highlighted by groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad as well as human rights activists.

Sayeed declared that his government was “committed not only to bringing back Hindus but rehabilitating them in areas where they once lived happily with their Muslim neighbors.”

“We have spoken to Hindu community leaders and elders. They are willing to come back. They still consider Kashmir as their motherland. I have personally guaranteed their safety and my government will do everything to ensure that they are properly rehabilitated,” Sayeed said amid applause.

“Pandits tell me that they don’t want to live outside Kashmir any longer. Thousands have conveyed their decision to me in writing. I have told them that violence has not been stamped out but stray incidents will not affect their honorable rehabilitation,” the chief minister said.

Sayeed said: “If the atmosphere is right for Muslims to live here, I don’t see any reason why it is not equally conducive for Hindus.”

Organization representing uprooted Hindus say that they were driven out by Pakistan-backed militants. But many independent experts reject the charges of ethnic cleansing.

Experts say that the exodus was deliberately triggered by Jagmohan, the hard-line governor imposed by New Delhi at the height of militancy.

They accuse Jagmohan of advising Hindus to leave Kashmir in order to malign Kashmiri Muslims.

Two years ago, one of India’s leading theater directors, Feroz Khan, staged a series of plays in New Delhi to raise money for displaced Kashmiris. The proceeds from the plays went to charities working toward helping the families of Kashmiri Hindus displaced by the ongoing violence in the region.

While some families moved to other parts of India, the majority stayed on in Jammu, in the hope that they would be able to return to their homes one day.