PM Modi interacts with Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs

New Delhi/Houston: Ahead of his ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston, Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged with a cross section of the local Indian community which included Kashmiri Pandits, Dawoodi Bohras and the Sikhs.

The delegation of the Kashmiri Pandits “unequivocally” supported the steps being taken by the government with regard to scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. During the interaction, one member of the Kashmiri Pandits delegation got emotional and went on to say,  “Thank you on behalf of seven lakh Kashmiri Pandits.”

PM Modi assured the 17-member delegation of “building a new Kashmir” which would be for everyone. “Kashmir mein naee hava bah rahee hai (New winds are blowing in Kashmir) and we will all build a new Kashmir together that will be for everyone,” he told the delegation. Mr Modi also thanked the community for their patience for over 30 years saying, “You all have suffered a lot.”

“I had a special interaction with Kashmiri Pandits in Houston,” Mr Modi tweeted.

Ministry of external aff-airs spokesperson Ravee-sh Kumar said the Kas-hmiri Pandits expressed support for the steps taken by the Indian government for the progress of India. The delegation also presented a memorandum to Mr Modi, requesting him to set up a task force under the ministry of home affairs to develope the region and repatriate Kashmiri Pandits.

The 50-member Sikh delegation too lauded Mr Modi for the “path-breaking decisions” taken by the Indian government in the recent years and thanked the PM for deleting the names of over 312 Sikh members from the adverse list (blacklist). These Sikh foreign nationals were alleged to be involved in anti-India activities and their names were removed after a review was carried out by the MHA.

“We urged the Prime Minister to provide visa and passport services to the Sikh political asylees. This is important for the large Sikh community living in the US to visit India in a year when we are celebrating 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji,” one member of the delegation said.

The delegation also urg-ed PM to change the name of Indira Gandhi Interna-tional Airport in New De-lhi to Guru Nanak Dev Int-ernational  airport to ma-rk the 550th birth anniversary Guru Nanak Dev ji.

In his brief remarks to the Sikh delegation, The PM said that he has a good news for them in the next few days and urged them to wait. Mr Modi later tweeted saying, “I had an excellent interaction with the Sikh Community in Houston. I am delighted to see their passion towards India’s development!”

The Prime Minister also met a delegation of the Dawoodi Bohras who felicitated him with a shawl. “The Dawoodi Bohra community has distinguished itself across the  world. In Houston, I had the opportunity to spend time with them and speak about a wide range of issues,” Mr Modi tweeted.