Unfortunately, no such appeal came, only an announcement that to ensure the security of Pandits, refugee camps were being set up in every district of the Valley, and Pandits who felt threatened could move to these camps rather than leave the Valley. 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. China is drawing lessons from Russias invasion of Ukraine. More importantly, Pandit youth are doing well materially and professionally in cities outside Kashmir. On January 21, the CRPF gunned down 160 Kashmiri Muslim protesters at the Gawkadal Bridge, which has come to be known as the worst massacre in the long history of the conflict in Kashmir. Matters came to a head on January 19. WebThe Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency.Of a total Pandit population of 120,000140,000 some 90,000100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave, and about 30 were killed. It sent shock waves through the Pandit community. WebSrinagar: The latest killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in Pulwama district has revived the climate of insecurity and fear in the Valley, and allegations that the Jammu and Kashmir administration has failed to protect the minority Hindu community. Indian forces are specially ordered to keep high surveillance on Kashmir and Kashmiris. WebPersian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th centuries, under the influence of Islam. He also demanded that a probe be conducted to ascertain on whose orders a total of 70 terrorists were released in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. Read | Kashmiri Pandits observe Holocaust Day to mark 30 years of mass exodus from Valley. Gul Shah formed the government with support from the Congress at the state-level as well as the central. A governor of this administration was ruling in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandit started New Delhi has distanced itself from a controversial and unequal deal between Adani Power and the Bangladesh Power Development Board. WebThe Kashmiri Pandits are divided into three subcastes: Guru/Bchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Krkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). Many Pandits celebrated the Indian government move as they believe it will pave the way for their return to the Valley. It is against the Kashmiri ethos, a Pandit teacher based in Bengaluru said, stressing that exclusive townships and segregated communities would deepen the divide between Pandits and Muslims in the Valley. The Kashmiri Muslims were instructed to identify Pandit homes so they could be systematically targeted for conversion or killing. [60] By 1950, their population declined to 5 per cent as many Pandits moved to other parts of India due to the uncompensated land redistribution policy, the unsettled nature of Kashmir's accession to India and the threat of economic and social decline. Rubaiya was the daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, then the Home minister of India in the Janata Dal government led by V. P. Singh. The blatant electoral engineering, which disillusioned many Kashmiri youth, became a watershed event in Kashmir's political landscape and catalysed further insurgency. 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'. The 19th of January, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. 4000+ stories. An eye-witness report by two investigative journalists on the ground in Prato, Italy. Most Popular. [18], Zulju, who was probably a Mongol from Turkistan,[19] wreaked devastation in 1320, when he commanded a force that conquered many regions of the Kashmir Valley. 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. Leaders of Jammu and Kashmir knew earlier what was going to happen within few weeks. Foreign affairs, defence and communications remained the preserve of the central government. [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. As for those Pandits who left the Valley, many were put up in tented accommodation in camps in Jammu and New Delhi initially and subsequently in townships in these cities. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. In his address to celebrate the 104th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Yoon Suk-yeol said Japan has transformed into a partner sharing common values. Several migrant organisations like Panun Kashmir, Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD), Kashmir Pandit Sabha (KPS), Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS), Save Sharda Committee (SSC) and All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) held programmes on the day of 19 January to observe Holocaust Day and to pay tributes to the victims and to reaffirm commitment to the cause of the Kashmiri Pandits. Antagonism over the Russia-Ukraine war has left G-20 host India in the unenviable position of trying to reconcile clearly irreconcilable differences. ISI-sponsored Pro-Pakistan outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen, was founded in 1989. .. Advertisement .. Rajiv Gandhi Urged VP Singh Government To Stop Exodus Of Hindus From Kashmir: Congress, "Eknath Shinde Could Not Have Become Chief Minister If": Supreme Court, "If Manish Sisodia Joins BJP Today": Arvind Kejriwal Targets PM Modi, "Playing For Country": Gavaskar Blasts Gill For Calling Physio Mid-Over, In Telangana Death By Suicide, Student's Heart-Breaking Apology To Mother, Nithyananda's 'Republic Of Kailasa' At UN Meet. We are a group of patriots who love our motherland - Bharat Mata! Major media outlets have that the kidnapping was a fake one as the kidnapping took place just after 5 days Sayeed took the office. [23], D.L. In 1989, Neelkanth Ganjoo, the judge who had sentenced the JLKF's Maqbool Bhat to death, was killed in a market near the Srinagar High Court in broad daylight. Thirty years after they fled their homes in the Valley, an older generation of Kashmiri Pandits continue to yearn for the lives they led before the exodus. By then, the Pandits had begun to be targeted. The KPSS has placed the number of Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants from 1990 to 2011 at 399, the majority during 1989-90. Without going into the complexities of power, politics, hatred, vendetta, agendas, and political priorities, I would like to opine that the governm Money, Tokyo No police commission, special investigation team (SIT), or judicial panel was constituted to probe the genocide-triggered exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Yet their return looks as difficult as it ever did. Tens of thousands of Kashmiris and Indian security personnel have lost their lives in the violence that engulfed the region. Sheikh Abdullah had died in 1982, and the leadership of the National Conference passed on to his son Farooq Abdullah, who won the 1983 election. During the period of The outcome of this shift both in population and in religion was that the Kashmir Valley became a predominantly Muslim region. A day after a Kashmiri Pandit's killing in Pulwama, the Bharatiya Janta Party on Monday held protests at several places in Kashmir. [59], Scholar Christopher Snedden states that the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Kashmir Valley's population in 1947. Jammu and Kashmir being the only Muslim majority state in whole of India, the protection of minorities and their living peacefully, in their homeland, is crucial for India to remain as a Secular Democratic State. The exodus of people from Kashmir Valley began only after then Jammu and Kashmir governor Jagmohan asked them, especially Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs, to leave, saying he would not be able to protect them, Chowdhury said in Lok Sabha while raising the issue during Zero Hour. 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. However, Farooq Abdullah's first stint as chief minister was short-lived; he was deseated after an Indira Gandhi-led political coup in 1984. By 2011, only an estimated 2,700-3,400 Pandits remained in the Kashmir Valley. [35] The government has reported on the terrorist threats to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region. It is an undeniable fact that the same sentiments that led to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus are very much alive and thriving today. 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. A lot has changed since then but the more things change the more they remain the same. 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. In Anantnag, the constituency of then Congress leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, there was a series of attacks on Hindu temples, and shops and properties of Kashmiri Pandits, blamed on separatist and secessionists. WebMaybe. It has been a long time since somebody has edited this article and is pending for moderation. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan Malhotra, dictated by the Centre, orchestrated the replacement of Abdullah with his brother-in-law Ghulam Shah, who had rebelled against his family and pioneered another faction of the National Conference. 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. Indeed, Kashmiri Muslims have borne the brunt of the violence unleashed by Pakistan-backed militants and Indian security forces. On 21 January 1990, two days into the governor's rule, the paramilitary troops of the Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) opened fire on a group of protesting civilians on the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, killing about 50 Kashmiri Muslims as per estimates. Socially and morally too the court and the country had sunk to the depths of degradations. Sanjay Kumar, the father of three minor children who worked as a bank security guard, was shot dead in Achan Those who chose to the first of these were told to leave their women behind. 30 years after they were forced to flee, the return of Hindu Pandits to the Kashmir Valley remains a distant dream. (Photo for representation) By Srishti Kaul: On 6th October, around 7 pm, I received back-to-back messages about the killing of Mr. Bindroo in Srinagar. This list included the Kashmiri Pandits, the Nagar Brahmins from Gujarat; the South Indian Brahmins; the Punjabi Khatris, and Kayasthas from northern India; Chitpawans and CKPs (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus) from Maharashtra; the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis; the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. They have now become refugees in their own country. Sun hid behind the clouds and the darkness found its way throughout the daylight. 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. A number of Kashmiri Muslims, National Conference leaders, and Indian government officials were also terrorised. The kidnappers demanded the release of five of their members in exchange for Rubaiya's release. (At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. But as the situation in Kashmir spiralled into a full-blown militancy, return began to look remote if not impossible. 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. Although the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) said the two men were killed because of their ties with the Indian state rather than their Pandit identity, the Pandits were not convinced. Swamy's remarks come in the midst of a controversy over the movie 'The Kashmir Further, the film shows that Al-Safa carried a threat commanding Kashmiri Pandits to leave the Valley before the night of the exodus 'Al-Safa, Pandit dafa,' a child holding the newspaper recites in the movie. This article is protected. WebGenocide of Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmir has also been a land of Sun worship with shrines such as Martand Sun Temple established by Lalitaditya Muktapida. Today, Tickoo says there are fewer than 3,400 Pandits in Kashmir. Even so, small numbers remain. [49][50][51], The Jammu And Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection And Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, provides that "Any person who is an unauthorised occupant or recipient of any usufruct of any immovable property of the migrant shall pay to the migrant such compensation for the period of unauthorised occupation and in such a manner as may be determined by the District Magistrate. [67][failed verification] The shrine is located in Tullamulla village, 24km from Srinagar in Ganderbal district. 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 The security situation along the India-Pakistan border remains of great concern. As the BJP continues to promise that Kashmiri Pandits will return, and #HumWapasJayenge trends on social media, Kashmiri Muslims also see the return of Pandits as essential, but reject the idea of their settlement in secured camps as a replication of Israel-like Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Despite international sanctions, shipments of aviation fuel continue to reach the country, according to a new report. Those Pandits in service who felt threatened were free to leave their stations; they would continue to be paid salary. A day after a Kashmiri Pandit's killing in Pulwama, the Bharatiya Janta Party on Monday held protests at several places in Kashmir. More than 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits[ref], constituting 99% of the total population of Hindus living in Muslim majority area of the Kashmir Valley, were forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Muslim terrorists, trained in Pakistan, since the end of 1989 and forced to live the life of exiles in their own country, by unleashing a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot and arson. Most of the Kashmiris fled during late hours, under the cover of the night. Several moved to other cities in India and abroad, where they have done well professionally. How the international community views the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir has changed as well. By then, the Farooq Abdullah government had been dismissed and Governors Rule imposed. Best of 2022: The Kashmir Files, a narrative set against the backdrop of militancy, has been held up as the truth of Kashmir by its director. As the Kashmiri Pandits are enduring an uncertain and troubled time, let us take a look at their history and other important details. [53], Panun Kashmir has made demands for a separate homeland for the community in the southern part of Kashmir. 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. Asia, Pacific [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. Short answer: Because of carelessness, lack of courage/desire and vote-bank politics of State and Central government. 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