Displaced Kashmiri pandits will be able to return to valley soon: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
Jammu, Apr 3: Kashmiri pandits will be able to return to their homes in the valley soon, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday, asserting that work is on to create a conducive atmosphere so that they are never displaced again.
He also praised 'The Kashmir Files' movie, saying it has created public awareness across the country and outside about the reality behind the exodus of Kashmiri pandits from the valley in 1990.
Addressing members of the Kashmiri pandit community virtually on the last day of the three-day Navreh celebrations, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief said that the time has come for fulfilling the pledge of returning to their homes in the Kashmir valley.
It won't take many days for the fulfilment of our pledge of returning to the valley. It will come true very soon and we have to continue making attempts in this direction. Our history and our great leaders should serve as the guiding light and inspiration for all of us, Bhagwat said in his over half-an-hour speech.
Referring to his participation in the 'Kashmiri pandit festival Herath' (Shivaratri) in 2011 in Delhi, he said the community had taken a pledge on the occasion that they will return to their homeland.
Challenges do come in everyone's life ... We are in a situation where we were displaced in our own country three-four decades ago. What is the solution? he said and added, We will not succumb and see our pledge fulfilled by returning to our homes.
He referred to Israel and said the Jews struggled for 1800 years for their homeland. Nothing much was done in 1700 years by them for their pledge, but over the past 100 years, the history of Israel saw it achieving its target and also becoming one of the leading countries in the world.
We (Kashmiri pandits) have had to live in different parts of globe despite the fact that Kashmir is an integral part of India. We can live anywhere but we cannot forget our homeland, he said.
Bhagwat said 'The Kashmir Files' movie has highlighted the reality of Kashmiri pandits before the world.
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He said the removal of Article 370 "opened the way for the return of the pandits to the Kashmir valley".
The time for your return to the valley as a 'Hindu and a Bharat Bakt' is approaching you have faced displacement in the past but in future, nothing like this should happen with you, he said.
"Work is in progress to create such an atmosphere where you will feel secure and live peacefully with your neighbours like in the past and nobody will be able to dislodge you again from there.
Anyone making any such attempt will not escape punishment. There are people (among the Muslim community) with whom you were enjoying good relations. We have to defeat extremism and live peacefully with everyone, he said.
The RSS chief said it will take some time and we will enjoy the fruits at the appropriate time which will facilitate you to return to your homeland on your own conditions.
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Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
New York, May 13: Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations over the past 20 years.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates posted on the X platform on Monday. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of trustees, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” French Gates wrote in her statement. She organises some of her investments and philanthropic gifts through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, which is not a nonprofit.
Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical” contributions to the foundations in a statement, saying, “I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
French Gates will receive $12.5 billion as part of her agreement with Gates, which she said would commit to future work focused on women and families.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about whether those assets would come from the foundation itself. In an emailed statement, the foundation said that Suzman announced the decision to employees on Monday.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the US and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory,” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said he knew many had joined the foundation in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially around gender equity.
“I know how beloved Melinda is here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation holds $75.2 billion in its endowment as of December 2023, and announced in January, it planned to spend $8.6 billion through the course of its work in 2024.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce from Pivotal Ventures.
