Policy to rehabilitate Kashmiri militants in final stages
By IANSSunday, March 21, 2010
JAMMU - A policy meant to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of about 3,000 Kashmiri militants now in Pakistan is in the final stage and could be made public in May, official sources said Sunday.
The policy seeks to help the militants now sheltered in the Pakistani part of Jammu and Kashmir to return to India.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the policy in February. It has been endorsed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram. The sources said the pros and cons of the policy had been studied.
“The details are being documented. It could be made public in May,” a senior official said.
The policy would have a foolproof system to study details and background of each militant. It would benefit only those who have no criminal cases registered against them in any police station in Jammu and Kashmir.
If implemented with the consent of the Pakistani government, the policy would help an estimated 3,000 Kashmiri militants to return to their homes in the Kashmir Valley and other parts of the state.
Almost all of them went to Pakistani Kashmir in the 1990s to get weapons training to take on the Indian state.
