Kashmiri Pandit diaspora meet in Houston

Celebrating the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) organised a meeting of the community members in Houston with the head of BJP's Foreign Affairs Department, Vijay Chauthaiwale.

All the heads of Kashmiri Pandits' community organisations from India and community members from Australia, the UK, Germany, Singapore, India and the US connected with the meeting via teleconference on Saturday.

Addressing the gathering, Chauthaiwale said that he could feel the joy, positive vibrations and excitement in the community following the recent transformational changes in India.

"The abrogation of Article 370 was a historic moment... It was the result of the strong ideological commitment, will to execute, emotional involvement, strategic implementation and focussed techniques to execute the strategy that our visionary Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and his team had shown," he said.

Surinder Kaul, international coordinator of GKPD, said: "It was time to celebrate the power and diversity of our great nation."

He said the GKPD focuses on challenging the separatist narrative at the United Nations. "The community faces challenges in terms of cultural, religious and social extermination unless concrete steps are taken immediately," he said.

On behalf of the local community, Veena Ambardar thanked Narendra Modi and his team. Ambardar said: "In addition to paving the way for major infrastructural developments in Kashmir, the move has also instilled a ray of hope in the Kashmiri Pandit community that they will be able to reclaim their homeland."