Kashmiri Pandit group criticises Waqf Amendment Bill, ‘hypocritical’ posturing

Srinagar: The Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS) has  asserted that the government must refrain from interfering in religious affairs, emphasizing that faith and its institutions belong solely to their devotees. In a statement issued today, KPSS expressed concern over the tabling of the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Indian Parliament but highlighted what it perceives as hypocrisy among those now voicing concerns over religious endowments while ignoring the decades-long desecration of Kashmiri Pandit religious sites.

For the past thirty-five years, Kashmiri Pandit religious sites, including temples, ashtapans (sacred places), cremation grounds, and springs, have reportedly faced widespread encroachment, vandalism, and illegal commercial conversions. KPSS accused an “unchecked mafia entrenched within the majority community” of systematically eroding these sacred places. Despite this, the organization stated, no government—state or central—has taken decisive action to restore these sites to their rightful custodians.

“The silence of Kashmir’s political class, civil society, and common citizens has been deafening,” KPSS stated. “While there is an outcry over the Waqf Amendment Bill, there was no such concern when our shrines were burned, temple lands were illegally occupied, and our sacred springs were turned into dumping grounds and marketplaces.”

KPSS contended that Kashmiri politicians, legislators, and self-proclaimed liberal voices have lost the moral standing to comment on religious property matters due to their inaction over the destruction of Kashmiri Pandit heritage. The organization accused powerful figures—including politicians and businessmen—of benefiting from the illegal occupation of Pandit religious properties, treating them as “lucrative real estate opportunities rather than places of worship.”

“No legislator has spoken up in the assembly, no political party has raised a voice, and no collective conscience has awakened to demand justice for the Kashmiri Pandits,” the statement read. “There has been no movement from within the majority community to right these historical wrongs.”

While reiterating its opposition to government interference in religious affairs, KPSS dismissed what it called “moral posturing” by those who had remained silent on the plight of Kashmiri Pandit religious institutions. The organization asserted that the Kashmiri majority community must first acknowledge and rectify the injustices faced by the Pandits before commenting on religious autonomy.

“Justice must be universal. Until that day comes, we refuse to be lectured by those who stood silent as our faith was erased from our homeland,” the statement concluded.