Jammu: Displaced Kashmiri Hindus have rejected the recommendations of the third round table conference on Jammu and Kashmir, casting a shadow over the effectiveness of the dialogue process for consolidation of peace in the Valley.

For the first time in years, the two factions of the Panun Kashmir (Our Own Kashmir), an organisation representing Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), held a joint press conference in Jammu yesterday and denounced what they called the pro-separatist tilt of the round table conference.

Ajay Charngoo and Agnishekhar, leaders of the two factions, told newsmen that they rejected the manner in which the community had been equated with Kashmiri youth who had ventured across the Line of Control (LoC)seeking arms training. "What is the connection between the two," Charngoo sought to know.

"We are the victims of violence, they can be counted among the persecutors. How can victims and militants be treated alike," Agnishekhar asked.

Migration issue

Kashmiri Pandits are unhappy with the way the issue of their migration has been overlooked.

The working group on confidence-building measures had recommended that Kashmiri youth who had strayed across the LoC be rehabilitated and that the package be on par with the one the government proposed for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. Since 1989, more than 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits have fled the Valley fearing persecution by Islamist militants.

Nearly 3,000 Kashmiri youths who had crossed the border for arms training had sent distress calls, prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look at ways to facilitate their return during the second round table conclave held in Srinagar in May 2006.

Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP too has rejected the recommendations of the round table conference. Party vice president Hariom wrote to the PM telling him that the conference was a monologue of separatist forces and that the BJP would have nothing to do with it.