They may have been living in exile for years, but Kashmiri Pandits have not forgotten their former neighbours in Jammu and Kashmir in the time of tragedy.
Kashmiri Pandits living in Delhi are collecting aid for the earthquake-hit people of Jammu and Kashmir and have set up a 32-member relief committee, which has decided to adopt a village in a border district for rehabilitation.
The Displaced Kashmiri Pandit Earthquake Relief Initiative has also constituted a five-member committee to monitor the distribution of aid.
"No one can appreciate the depth of agony and the pain of the victims of the earthquake better than Kashmiri Pandits, the victims of concerted terrorist campaigns, having themselves lost their lives and homes after being ousted from the Valley," the relief committee Tuesday said in an appeal for aid to members of the community living in exile.
"The rehabilitation of the survivors of the earthquake is a humanitarian cause, which must be served by all to express solidarity with those who have suffered in the natural calamity," the committee, headed by freedom fighter and veteran journalist P N Jalali, said.
The committee, which has been set up to monitor distribution of aid comprises Omkar Razdan as secretary- cum-co-convenor, Vijay Tikkoo of Pannun Kashmir, H N Jattu and H L Wangnoo of the All India Kashmiri Samaj, M L Kaul and D N Dhar. The relief initiative said it had received an encouraging response for its appeal for donations which would be deposited in the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.
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