Washington D.C: A leader of a Hindu Kashmiri group related to a conference here stories of violence and ethnic cleansing in Kashmir by Pakistan backed Jihadis, mostly sent across the Line of Control.

In 1990, 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs and moderate Muslims had to flee Kashmir to neighboring parts of India, and several have been forced to live in wretched camps in
subhuman conditions, Jeevan Zutshi, national Director of Indo-American Kashmir Forum,told the Oct. 30 conference sponsored by Congressman Frank Pallone, and the
Congressional Caucus on Indo-Americans.

The past 14 years have taken a great toll on people in these camps; several have developed psychological, mental and reproductive disorders, resulting in a birth-to-death ratio of 1:4, Zutshi added.

The killing of over 1000 Kashmiri Pandits in the valley, Zutshi said, has been documented. Their ancestral, cultural and spiritual roots are in Kashmir and they have every right to live in the valley without fear of persecution and they should not become the “forgotten people of Kashmir,” he said.