Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said his government is equally committed to the rehabilitation and rights of Kashmiri Pandits and refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Pakistan.
Praising the people of Jammu for their tradition of pluralism, Dr Singh said they had welcomed with open arms thousands of migrants, refugees and displaced people over the years.
These include a large number of Kashmiri Pandits and refugees from PoK and Pakistan, he said in his address after being conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Jammu.
"I assure all of them that our government is committed to their proper rehabilitation and ensuring that they get equal rights," Dr Singh said while saluting the people of Jammu for maintaining a culture of peace and tolerance in difficult times.
Jammu city, he said, is believed to have been founded when Raja Jambhu Lochan, on a hunting expedition, came upon a tiger and a goat drinking from the same water tank.
When the Raja sought an explanation, his aides are believed to have explained that the soil of the place excelled in virtue and for that reason, no living creature bore enmity against another, he said.
It is this remarkable tradition of pluralism that the people have inherited, Dr Singh noted.
