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FORMER MILITANTS WHO FOUGHT FOR PAKISTAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR AFTER CROSSING THE BORDER FROM INDIAN-CONTROLLED
KASHMIR ARE NOW BEING ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME TO THE
INDIAN SIDE OF THE REGION. SEVERAL HUNDRED HAVE CROSSED BACK THROUGH A REHABILITATION
PROGRAM INITIATED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
BUT OUR NEW DELHI CORRESPONDENT ARU PANDE MET WITH SOME OF THESE MEN AND TELLS ME MANY
OF THEM SAY THE INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR AUTHORITIES ARE NOT KEEPING THEIR
PROMISES. LET'S TAKE A LOOK.
THESE ARE MAN WHO, BASICALLY WHEN THE INSURGENCY FIRST STARTED IN THE LATE 1980S, THEY WERE
MOSTLY TEENAGERS WHO CROSSED INTO PAKISTAN FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT
REASONS. SOME WERE TRICKED INTO GOING ACROSS THE BORDER, PROMISED A BETTER LIFE IN PAKISTAN
CONTROLLED KASHMIR. OTHERS WERE FED UP WITH THE SITUATION THERE AND
THEY WANTED TO TAKE UP ARMS TO FIGHT AND THEY WENT OVER TO PAKISTAN - MOSTLY IN THE 1980S
THEY CROSSED OVER.
DECEPTION, FRAUD, AND DISHONESTY. THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT DAWOOD AHMAD USES TO SUM UP
A LOCAL GOVERNMENT REHABILITATION POLICY THAT ALLOWED HIM TO RETURN HOME TO
INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR AFTER SPENDING 22 YEARS IN PAKISTAN.
"THE PROMISES THEY [THE GOVERNMENT] MADE THAT WE CAN COME AND GET REHABILITATION HERE - WE
HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANYTHING. WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ABLE TO GET OUR KIDS
ADMITTED INTO SCHOOLS. MY OLDEST SON STILL HAS NOT GOTTEN INTO SCHOOL."
AT THE AGE OF 15, AHMAD CROSSED INTO PAKISTAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR IN 1990 AT THE START OF THE ARMED
INSURGENCY. HE SAYS HE SPENT ONE MONTH IN A PAKISTANI TRAINING
CAMP BEFORE HE WENT TO LIVE WITH HIS UNCLE IN THE CITY OF RAWALPINDI. THERE, HE MARRIED,
HAD CHILDREN AND RAN HIS OWN SHOP. AHMAD SAYS HE RETURNED TO INDIAN-
CONTROLLED KASHMIR'S MAIN TOWN OF SRINAGAR LAST YEAR TO SEE HIS MOTHER AND START A NEW
LIFE IN HIS HOMELAND.
BUT OF COURSE EVERYTHING WITH THIS PROGRAM HAS NOT GONE ENTIRELY SMOOTHLY. YOU HAVE A
LOT OF THESE MEN SAYING THEY FELT LIKE THEY WERE MISLED. TELL US ABOUT THAT.
FIRST OF ALL THEY SAID THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE PROMISED EMPLOYMENT OR A LOAN. AND THE BIGGEST
CONCERN THAT I'VE HEARD FROM PEOPLE IS THAT THEY MARRIED IN PAKISTAN
TO PAKISTANI WOMEN. AND THIS ONE MAN I TALKED TO - HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW IS PAKISTANI AND IS
SICK AND IN PAKISTAN. BUT HIS WIFE CAN'T GO VISIT HER MOTHER. WHEN I
TALK TO THE GOVERNMENT ABOUT THESE ISSUES, THE GOVERNMENT WAS VERY CLEAR. THEY ADMITTED
THERE'S BEEN HICCUPS WITH THE PROGRAM AND SO THEY'RE SAYING, LOOK IT'LL
TAKE TIME TO WORK OUT THE KINKS.
AUTHORITIES HERE SAY AT LEAST 300 PEOPLE, INCLUDING FAMILIES LIKE THIS ONE, HAVE CROSSED
BACK INTO INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR FROM PAKISTAN AS PART OF A SO-CALLED
REHABILITATION PROGRAM. INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR'S CHIEF MINISTER, OMAR ABDULLAH, ANNOUNCED
THE POLICY IN 2010 TO ALLOW MILITANTS WHO ALLEGEDLY TRAINED IN
PAKISTAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR TO RETURN HOME THROUGH NEPAL.
"WE WANTED TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A PLATFORM, A WAY TO COME BACK TO THEIR HOMES AND BE WITH
THEIR FAMILIES."
SADIQ CONCEDES THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES WITH IMPLEMENTING THE NEW POLICY, BUT THAT PROBLEMS
WITH SCHOOL ADMISSION ARE BEING WORKED OUT. HE EMPHASIZES THAT WHILE THE
MEN ARE PROMISED HELP, SUCH AS LOANS, THEY ARE NOT GUARANTEED EMPLOYMENT.
NOW GOING TO KASHMIR YOURSELF, THIS LONG DIVIDED REGION, WHAT KIND OF SENSE OF DIVISIONS DID
YOU FEEL YOURSELF BEING THERE?
I'LL TELL YOU THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER BEEN TO KASHMIR. AND THE FIRST THING
THAT JUST AS A LAYPERSON THAT REALLY BLEW ME AWAY WAS HOW BEAUTIFUL IT WAS.
THE WEATHER WAS GORGEOUS. THE SCENERY WAS BEAUTIFUL. BUT THE HOTELS WERE EMPTY. THERE
WAS LITERALLY NOBODY THERE. ALL THE HOUSEBOATS, THE HUNDRED HOUSEBOATS
THAT WERE AT THE LAKE WERE EMPTY. AND SO I WAS VERY SURPRISED BY THAT. THIS PLACE IS
RIPE FOR TOURIST AND FOR VISITORS. AND I WAS ALSO CONCERNED YOU KNOW ABOUT
SECURITY. YOU KNOW YOU HEAR ABOUT CROSS-BORDER ATTACKS OR ATTACKS ON SOLDIERS OR PROTESTS,
VIOLENT PROTEST. BUT I WAS JUST SURPRISED AT HOW REALLY PEACEFUL IT
IS. THAT SAID THERE'S SUCH A BIG MILITARY POLICE PRESENCE THERE AND THAT'S ONE OF THE
CONCERNS I HEARD FROM A LOT OF RESIDENTS. ANY TIME THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF
UNREST, THERE'S A CURFEW, WE CAN'T COME AND GO AS WE PLEASE AND WE DON'T FEEL FREE.
WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF VIOLENCE NOW ALONG THE LINE OF CONTROL?
WELL, WE DID SEE IN THE LAST MONTH OR SO A SERIES OF CROSS, CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS, ALLEGED,
BY BOTH SIDES. SO THAT WAS UNUSUAL BECAUSE FOR THE LONGEST TIME THERE
WASN'T A LOT OF THIS SUSTAINED FIRING. SO MANY PEOPLE HERE WERE QUESTIONING WHETHER
YOU KNOW THE INROADS INDIA AND PAKISTAN HAVE MADE IN TRYING TO RESTART THE
PEACE DIALOGUE AND RESTART PEACE TALKS WAS GOING TO BE DERAILED. BUT AS OF NOW, AT LEAST
WHEN I WAS THERE, IT WAS RELATIVELY PEACEFUL. I WAS THERE AT THE TAIL
END OF THAT CROSS-BORDER VIOLENCE.
AND AGAIN THAT WAS VOA NEW DELHI CORRESPONDENT ARU PANDE. IMRAN, AS ARU SAID, IT REALLY IS
INCREDIBLE TO SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS REGION KASHMIR IS. I KNOW THAT YOU
ARE FROM PAKISTAN. DID YOU HAVE ANY OPPORTUNITY AND GO SEE IT IN PERSON?
UNFORTUNATELY I'VE NEVER BEEN THERE, BUT DEFINITELY I WISH THAT I CAN GO THERE...FOR WHAT IS GOING
ON IN THE REGION IT'S DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO TRAVEL...AND PEOPLE
ARE SCARED FOR THEIR LIVES. BUT, YOU KNOW IT IS KNOWN AS A ZURICH OF ASIA, SO ONE DAY
I WISH PEOPLE CAN VISIT IT
HOPEFULLY, ONE DAY IT WILL CHANGE...
I HOPE SO