Dear Pradhan Sevak of India,
On January 19, 2015, that is today, Hindus of the Kashmir valley will complete 25 years of forced exile away from their home. Ah! A Silver Jubilee of Exile!
25 years of homelessness. 25 years of loss. 25 years of desolation. 25 years of melancholy. 25 years of longing. 25 winters.
Your party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has always supported the cause of the return and rehabilitation of the minority Hindus of Kashmir. Your party has spoken about displaced Kashmiri Pandits time and again in the last two decades. Kashmiri Pandits find mention in your poll manifesto, though I am not sure whether your party believes in this cause in letter as well as spirit.
There is lot of difference in what is done and said. Words remain hollow as long as they are not followed by actions.
In recent times, while campaigning for 2014 Lok Sabha as well as the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) State Assembly Elections, you spoke about the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits on several occasions. Your utterances on Kashmiri Pandits, who have been living in exile from more than two decades, were welcomed by the Pandit community. It stimulated a new sense of hope – the hope of a return back to our homeland.
The Lok Sabha elections are now a thing of the past. You have become Prime Minister of the country. Even the J&K State Assembly elections have concluded. Now we’re wondering when we can expect some forward movement regarding the return of Kashmiri Pandits.
Recently, I read a report in The Economic Times that said, “Kashmiri Pandits would be provided with ‘good quality’ 1,000 apartments built at a cost of Rs 40 lakh each near Srinagar, a far cry from the shabby two-room transit accommodation provided to them in Jammu, to motivate them to return to J&K.”
I cannot comprehend why the government (both at the Centre and State level) fails to understand the fundamental reason for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990. The Pandits didn’t leave Kashmir for financial reasons. They left owing to an attack on their very existence perpetrated by Islamic terrorists and insurgents. Had it not been for religion, there would not have been barbaric massacres committed against Kashmiri Pandits (those who chose to stay back) after 1990 – Wandhama, Nadimarg, Sangrampora and so on.
When you address the issue of the return of Kashmiri Pandits, you have to first address the ethnic cleansing that happened because of religion and nationality (allegiance to India). The United Nations defines ethnic cleansing as rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove from a given area, persons of another ethnic or religious group – in the context of Kashmiri Pandits, to create a Kashmir valley homogeneous in its religious character (read Islam), Pandits were driven out from their homeland.
You may be aware that the homes of Pandits have been burned and their temples/shrines have been desecrated and damaged. This is part and parcel of the ethnic cleansing I speak of – it involves the removal of all physical vestiges of the targeted group through the destruction of monuments, cemeteries, and places of worship.
Though the J&K government states that only 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed since 1989, Kashmiri Pandits strongly argue that more than 700 have been killed. Also, brutal rapes and murders have been committed against Hindu women. Where is our justice? Must we simply ignore it? Can we? I hate the silence that hangs over the issue.
This displacement has impacted three generations of Kashmiri Pandits – the older ones who became disorganised and demented; the younger ones on whose shoulders there was suddenly the huge responsibility of supporting their families while exiled in an unknown land; and the toddlers who were disconnected from their roots, losing language and culture as a result.
The exile of Lord Ram was 14 years-long but the exile of his followers from Kashmir still continues. Even after 25 years, the Pandits are looking for answers about the displacement, the killings, justice denied and above all, the return back to the Kashmir valley (but on their own terms).
I am reminded of Kashmiri poet and writer Arjan Dev Majboor’s lines:
Gayem Wæs Lyekhan Yeth Dastaan’as, Dazith Khouth Wark-Warke Aasmaan’as.
For which Professor Arvind Gigoo offers this English translation:
I spent my age writing this legend.
But the pages leapt towards the sky.
A dusty cobweb besieged me.
Time was at work.
The fault was not mine.
A few moments were given to me in trust.
The world maligned me.
Now stranded in wilderness
I wait for the tree, the water and the light.
I am the mosaic.
My glass-house will not crumble.
Each day I light a lamp in the whirlwind.
I am a stage of the caravan.
Peep into me and listen to the ancient ballad.
It is endless.
After more than two decades, finally, the issue of Pandits is been talked about. It took just under 25 years for the Indian intelligentsia as well as the media to start a discussion about it. I wonder how many more years it will take for Pandits to actually receive justice and subsequently return and be rehabilitated back into their homeland.
I am in exile, along with my fellow seven lakh Pandits, because I pledge my allegiance to India. I am in exile because of my Indian-ness. It is the duty of the Indian state to protect its citizens, a task which, in this case, the country has failed. When somebody asks me about my home, it is difficult to answer because an exile no longer has a home. When will I find an answer?
It is high time now that the Indian government, which is headed by you, moves beyond just lip service and instead, walks the talk.
Sincerely,
An exiled Kashmiri
(Published in Newslaundry)