New Delhi: Interacting with the Hurriyat for the first time today (Jan 22, 2004), Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani raised the issue of the plight of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced out of the valley in 1989 due to militancy and reminded the separatist group they were a part of any process.

Kashmiri Pandits immediately welcomed Advani's gesture and hoped the Government would also call them in future for talks.

Advani said that the meeting laid emphasis on enlarging the scope of dialogue process by involving all sections and regions of the State.

"In this regard, I raised the issue of Kashmiri Pandits who also belong to the valley. They have been living in the valley for generations and are now in pathetic condition," he said, adding that he expected any group in Jammu and Kashmir to speak for all sections and regions of the State.

"I told the Hurriyat leaders to see how Kashmiri Pandits are living in camps. Any decent person will not live in such conditions even for 10 days although they have been living for more than 10 years," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Hailing Advani's remarks, Yuvraj Raina, spokesman of Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, said "We are thankful to him for recognising us as a party."

He said the return of Kashmiri Pandits to a "composite culture" was impossible now, as the valley had undergone "Islamisation" during the last decade.

Panun Kashmir general secretary, Ramesh Manvati said the only viable way of solving the community's problem was restructuring of the State to carve out a separate homeland for Pandits.