Kashmiri Pandits on Monday (March 23, 2026) asked Kashmiri Muslims to come forward for the return of the displaced minority community, as they gathered in the Valley to pay tributes to 24 Pandits who were killed by terrorists on March 23, 2003 in south Kashmir’s Pulwama. 

Scores of Pandits and Muslims swarmed the venue at Pulwama’s Nadimarg and paid floral tributes at the plaque carrying the names of the victims. “We observe March 23 as a black day. Till our last breath, we will remember the victims. We will not forgive or forget those who carried out the heinous crime,” said a Kashmiri Pandit, who has travelled to Kashmir specially for paying the tributes.  

Referring to the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, the Kashmiri Pandit said, “It has been a long period now. Kashmiri Pandits have a microscopic population of around 4% in Kashmir. It’s time for the 95% Muslim population to hit the streets and come forward for our return, instead of merely lip service,” he said.  

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Aijaz Ahmad Mir, who led Muslims to pay tributes to the victims, said, “Kashmiri Muslims have not forgotten the massacre. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Pandits. There is a sense of insecurity among Pandits. The government needs to take measures to address these insecurities,” Mr. Mir said.

He said such painful chapters in our history remind us of the importance of peace, unity, and communal harmony. “I sincerely hope and pray that our Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters return to their homes at the earliest, with dignity, safety, and a sense of belonging,” he added.

The PDP leader also demanded a dharamshala at Nadimarg for those who travel every year to pay tributes to the victim.

In 2022, the J&K High Court had ordered the reopening of the Nadimarg massacre case. A number of witnesses in the case have migrated out of Kashmir Valley. In 2011, a petition had sought a fresh trial and transfer of the case to any court of competent jurisdiction at Jammu. Meanwhile, one of the key undertrial, Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani, accused in the Nadimarg massacre, died in an encounter in 2021 in the Pir Panjal valley’s Poonch Sector. The accused was considered as the “mastermind” of the massacre by the security agencies.

Meanwhile, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha handed over appointment letters to 37 Next of Kins (NoKs) of victims of terrorism in Jammu.

“I pledge to the families of terror victims that we will work with full commitment to secure their dignified and honourable lives. We will discharge every duty towards them with utmost seriousness, and we will not rest until justice reaches every family,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

Mr. Sinha said justice to terror victim families was not limited to only punishments but also healing the wounds and restoring dignity. “We stand at a decisive turning point in J&K today. The youth of the Union Territory and terror victim families aspire to a bright future and wish to live a better life. It is our shared responsibility to make that future a reality and create the opportunities they deserve,” he added.

He issued a stern warning to the remaining elements of the terror ecosystem and conflict entrepreneurs. “Their era of terror is over. The people of J&K know fully well who shielded such terror elements, but that shield is now crumbling. I warn them that there is no longer any safe haven in Jammu Kashmir for terrorists or the networks that support them,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governor said those who were part of this terror ecosystem and managed to infiltrate government machinery in the past “will face the law and they will be systematically removed from government jobs and punished as per the law”. More than 85 locals have been terminated from government jobs in J&K by the L-G administration.