The fleeing Pandits did not think they would never return to the Valley. According to P.K.Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school. They dream of returning to their old wooden homes surrounded by chinar trees and ringed by snow-capped mountains. She writes on South Asian political and security issues. There is little incentive for us to return to the Valley, says the Pandit teacher, drawing attention to the insecurity, lack of economic development and job prospects in Kashmir. Asia, Pacific Journalist-lawyer Prem Nath Bhat was shot dead in Anantnag on December 27. JKLF targeted a Kashmiri Hindu for the first time on 14 September 1989, when they killed Tika Lal Taploo, a lawyer and a prominent leader of Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir, in front of several eyewitnesses. Asia, South PM Rajiv Gandhis tenure ended on 2nd December 1989. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradations. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. People of india indian govt just stood watching kps haunted down killed and forced into exile. It were saffron communals people like RSS VHP BAJRAN The 19th of January, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. Sanjay Tickoo, a Kashmiri Pandit was barely 20-years-old in 1989-90, when he witnessed what came to be known as the "Kashmiri Pandit Exodus". However, these offers have failed to elicit much of a response. One of the deadliest attacks on Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley took place in 2003, more than a decade after the peak of the exodus. Twenty-four Hindus, including two children, were lined up outside their houses and shot dead by terrorists who belonged to the outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba. This led to huge disaffection and political instability. A Kashmiri Pandit refugee camp in Jammu. "Kashmiri Pandits responsible for duress against Muslims should leave the Valley within two days," read a headline of a local Urdu newspaper, Al-Safa, on 14 April 1990. Chinese military sources can tell us exactly what the PLA is learning. A powerful anti-India militancy rattled the Indian state. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group[8] from the Kashmir Valley,[9][10] a mountainous region located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) stepped up its activities, and the hanging of the militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984 added to the sense of foreboding. Navreh or the Kashmiri lunar new year is also an important Pandit festival. [45], As of October 2015, only 1 Kashmiri Pandit family returned to the Kashmir valley since 1990 according to the Jammu & Kashmir government despite the financial assistance being given for rehabilitation. Happy Editing! immediately after Independence in 1947. A number of such errors mar Agnihotri's film, which has been called out for its communal bias. What did the government of India do when Kashmiri Pundits were driven away from their homes in Kashmir? Why didt they prevent it? Because they did The Hizbul Mujahideen put up posters ordering all Hindus to leave the Valley and lists with names of Pandits to be eliminated were circulated, Dhar recalled. China is drawing lessons from Russias invasion of Ukraine. Pandits have generally been in favor of Kashmirs closer integration with India. The events of 19 January 1990 were particularly vicious. Surinder Kaul, Co-founder of GKPD, said that Kashmiri Pandits' genocide is continuing even today and every death is bringing the community closer to extinction. On that day, mosques issued declarations that the Kashmiri Pandits were Kafirs and that the males had to leave Kashmir, convert to Islam or be killed. Those who had means rebuilt their lives elsewhere in the country Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad have Pandit populations, also Jaipur and Lucknow or went abroad. Advertisement. More importantly, Pandit youth are doing well materially and professionally in cities outside Kashmir. Muslims argue that by arranging for buses to transport Pandits out of the Valley, Jagmohan facilitated their flight, paving the way for the Indian security forces to launch an all-out military offensive against Muslims. Yearly Plan. It was evident that Kashmiri Muslims wanted us to leave the Valley, Ashok Dhar, who left Baramulla for Jammu on February 2, 1990, told The Diplomat. With the support of the Indian National Congress, National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah formed a government as chief minister in 1975. It was at this meeting that pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani suddenly appeared and made a passionate plea for openly supporting jihad in Kashmir. [41], In 2010, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir noted that 808 Pandit families, comprising 3,445 people, were still living in the Valley and that financial and other incentives put in place to encourage others to return there had been unsuccessful. Even so, small numbers remain. [27][28], In the 1981 census, the Kashmir Division had 124,078 Hindus, the majority of whom were Pandits. [29], According to a number of authors, approximately 100,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley during the 1990s. [17], The Brahmins had something to be particularly unhappy about during the reign of the last Lohara king, for Shadeva chose to include them in his system of onerous taxation, whereas previously they appear to have been exempted. She write read more, Copyright 2023 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Why Haryana sarpanches are protesting against e-tenders for infra works, Rupert Murdoch testifies Fox anchors endorsed claims of Biden stealing 2020 polls: What he said, significance. The killings of innocent natives and ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri Pandits must be seen in the context of the deeper intent to secure the secession of Jammu and Kashmir. The exodus took place at the same time that the BJP was upping the ante across northern India, and over the years, the plight of Kashmiri Pandits has become a potent Hindutva issue. [58] and the Anantnag district, where they were 7.84 percent of the population. On January 19, Kashmiri Pandits across the world observed Holocaust Day. It was on that day 30 years ago that the Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley began. Some 800 families have remained in the Valley through these three decades. Surinder Kaul, Co-founder of GKPD, said that Kashmiri Pandits' genocide is continuing even today and every death is bringing the community closer to extinction. They wanted sharia rule in Kashmir, Dhar said, adding that the Pandits had no choice but to leave their homes. [ref][ref][ref] Events were also held at Jagti and Muthi migrant camps. Hence, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandit started I've heard cases. Lalitaditya's predecessor, Ranaditya, is said to have built the first sun temple. The Pakistani military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are said to have provided weapons, training, and logistical support to the JKLF. For instance, it suggests that a threat asking Kashmiri Pandits to leave the Valley was issued in Al-Safa before the exodus, thereby contributing to the forced migration. Sanjay Kumar, the father of three minor children who worked as a bank security guard, was shot dead in Achan WebIt clearly says that the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits started in late 1989. The year 1984 also saw another crucial event that contributed significantly to the rise of separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir: the hanging Maqbool Bhat, JKLF co-founder and a pioneer of the secessionist movement. Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. Around 9 PM, loud and thunderous Islamic and pro-Pakistan slogans raised collectively by a multitude of humanity and relayed through powerful loudspeakers almost pierced ear drums. But as the situation in Kashmir spiralled into a full-blown militancy, return began to look remote if not impossible. [75], The Kashmiri Pandits are divided into three subcastes: Guru/Bchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Krkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). 22 Mar 2022. Antagonism over the Russia-Ukraine war has left G-20 host India in the unenviable position of trying to reconcile clearly irreconcilable differences. Successive governments have promised that they will help this process, but the situation on the ground in Kashmir has meant this remains only an intention. WebBoth BJP and Congress enjoyed the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits because 1) they never cared about people 2) it was actually helping them to secure their vote bank. By then, the Pandits had begun to be targeted. In response, Abdullah resigned on the same day and Jagmohan suggested the dissolution of the State Assembly. However, 30 years after they were forced to flee their homes, the safe and dignified return of Pandits to the Kashmir Valley remains a distant dream. Those Pandits in service who felt threatened were free to leave their stations; they would continue to be paid salary. After their husbands killings, these women desperately sought to protect their sons from ongoing violence, even as they are largely shunned by society. Today, Tickoo says there are fewer than 3,400 Pandits in Kashmir. "Terrorists and jihadis began committing atrocities on all Pandits and Sikhs," he said, adding "The V P Singh government was then running with the support of the BJP.". In Jammus Jagti migrant camp, where at least 20,000 migrant Kashmiri Pandits live, the residents have been protesting for the past 146 days. "We cannot go back in the conditions prevailing in Kashmir. [33] The nature of the planned exodus has remain controversial, with the involvement of then Governor Jagmohan in organising a clandestine exodus been a subject of controversy. In late 1989, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jia Lal Taploo and a retired judge, Neelkanth Ganjoo, were assassinated. The Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus who are also called Kashmiri Pandits, was seventh ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits by radical Islamists in Kashmir Valley. Harmukh is traditionally revered by Kashmiri Pandits and in 2009 there was an attempt by them to revive pilgrimages to the site. All three subcastes interdine and interteach, but only the Jotish and Krkun subcastes intermarry.[22]. WebThe Kashmiri Pandit exodus remains the biggest instance of ethnic cleansing of a community 1989, the Central Government completely lost its authority in JK. On January 19, 1990, the Vally witnessed the most gruesome night in the history of the exodus of Kashmiri WebNew Delhi: Recalling the dreadful images and horrors of the years that followed post the advent of militancy in Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits urged the Central government to 'relocate' them to their native lands with respect and dignity and called for unity amongst the 'Kashmiri Pandits'. Hit lists of Pandits were in circulation. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A highly literate community, they were disproportionately represented in the Kashmir bureaucracy as well as in the teaching, legal, and medical professions, prompting resentment among other communities in the Valley, especially Muslims, who comprise over 95 percent of the population. Click here to subscribe for full access. Some items were elaborate, such as the peacock shoes known as mayuropanah worn by followers of fashion, and steel-soled shoes adorned with floral designs, lubricated internally with beeswax. The other contentious question about the exodus is the role played by the administration, and more specifically that of the J&K Governor, Jagmohan. They believe that Kashmiri Muslims, with whom they had lived amicably for centuries, drove them out with a vengeance in a frenzy of Islamism that they could not have imagined even months earlier. Kashmiri journalist Gowhar Geelani notes in his work, Insulting Facts With Fiction to Suit One's Narrative, that on the request of some Kashmiri Muslims, senior Indian administrator Wajahat Habibullah, posted in Anantnag in 1990 as Special Commissioner, had appealed to Jagmohan to dissuade the Pandits from leaving the Valley. The rigged election of 1987 after which Abdullah formed the government was a turning point at which militants took the upper hand. Dr. Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore, India. 30 years after they were forced to flee, the return of Hindu Pandits to the Kashmir Valley remains a distant dream. Anti-India sentiment has undergone changes not just in its intensity but the way it is articulated. Please take some time to moderate it now! A governor of this administration was ruling in Jammu and Kashmir. WebGet latest News Information, Articles on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard Updated on July 26, 2022 14:19 with exclusive Pictures, photos & videos on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard at Latestly.com - Page 2 What It Said, S Jaishankar's "Firm" Reply To UK Minister Who Raised BBC Tax Row: Sources, Tunisha Sharma Case: In-Camera Hearing Allowed On Sheezan Khan's Bail Plea, Protests Break Out Over Alleged Army Custodial Death In Jammu And Kashmir, 'Fear UP Cops Will Kill Me': Gangster-Politician Goes To Supreme Court, Cabinet Okays Signing Of Contract With L&T For 3 Cadet Training Ships, Traffic Hit In Delhi Ahead Of G20 Foreign Ministers Meet, Rahul Gandhi Talks About The "Art Of Listening" At Cambridge University, This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. The Kashmiri Hindu view is that this is a disingenuous interpretation. Raising the issue later during Zero Hour, BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh demanded that the government start a probe into the "large scale atrocities" committed on Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir from 1980 to 1990, especially in the period between 1984 to 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, and culprits be punished. They blame the then-Jammu and Kashmir governor, Jagmohan, for the Pandit exodus. WebGet latest News Information, Articles on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard Updated on July 26, 2022 14:19 with exclusive Pictures, photos & videos on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard at Latestly.com - Page 2 It laid down measures for the integration of Jammu and Kashmir to India, ensuring that it will continue to be governed under Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave the state an autonomous status as a constituent of India. Most Popular. Cries of hum wapas ayenge (we will return) rent the air and #HumWapasAayenge has been trending on social media in recent weeks. The Sultan has been referred to as an iconoclast because of his destruction of many non-Muslim religious symbols and the manner in which he forced the population to convert or flee. kashmiri pandit man Blogs, Comments and Archive News on Economictimes.com The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. Importantly, Jammu and Kashmirs status has changed. [42] The local organisation of pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, said that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency. Tens of thousands of Kashmiris and Indian security personnel have lost their lives in the violence that engulfed the region. Agnihotri's rendition then suggests that this was among the factors that contributed to the exodus on 19 January, even though the threat was reported to have been published on 14 April, three months after the night of terror. The Kashmiri Muslims were instructed to identify Pandit homes so they could be systematically targeted for conversion or killing. For impactful stories you just cant miss, By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy. In this exclusive interview, he recalls the events as they truly unfolded and not how they have been over dramatised and presented in the film The Kashmir Files which, he fears, aims (Or if they're ordered by the regime to create intentional tension/chaos. 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