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Displaced Hindus from Kashmir Eye Return After India's Scrapping of Special
Status

Reuters

   NEW DELHI - Indian Hindus forced out of Muslim-majority Kashmir decades
   ago are jubilant at the government's decision to allow all citizens the
   right to settle there, with many considering an eventual return home if
   conditions are secure.

   Aiming to integrate the revolt-torn region fully into India, Prime
   Minister Narendra Modi's government has scrapped rules restricting
   property purchases, state jobs and college places to residents only.

   "It is a welcome first step," said Surinder Koul, international
   coordinator of the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora, which represents
   displaced Hindus from the region.

   Forced out in 1989

   Hundreds of thousands were forced out of Kashmir, losing homes and many
   lives, when a revolt erupted against Indian rule in 1989. Many of them
   were Hindu minorities -- known as Kashmiri Pandits -- who later lived
   in camps across India.

   Most have not gone back. Now they want the government to propose a
   concrete plan for their resettlement.

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