In a significant development, a fervent appeal was made on Friday from the pulpit of Srinagar’s Grand Mosque to Kashmiri pandits, who fled the Valley following the outbreak of separatist violence more than two decades ago, to return home and “live here with their Muslim brethren without any fear”.
“I’m quite happy that the Muslims of the Valley received their pandit brethren at the annual Khirbhawani mela in large numbers with open arms. I pray and hope this sentiment is upheld and reciprocated as well by those who left the Valley many years ago by returning to their hearth and home at the earliest,” said Kashmir’s chief Muslim cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. “They are part of our flesh and must come back and live here without any fear,” he said.