Plight of Kashmiri Pandits  

Sometimes an issue which engages little public attention reveals more about the state of the nation than what are considered to be the "great questions of the day" The plight of Kashmiri Pandits is one such issue It affords a peep into quite a few "irons in the soul" of the present-day India It shows how apathetic we as a nation have become and how, for most of our leaders, politics and expediency are everything, truth and justice. nothing.

During my tour to different parts of the country, it has come as a shock to me that few people know who the Kashmiri Pandits are, what has been their contribution to the evolution of Indian culture and civilization, and what grave crisis they are facing at the moment.

About 5,000 years ago there existed a highly developed community, with a "profound spiritual culture", along the banks of river Saraswati, which, according to the Vedas, was the Mother of Rivers. The Rigveda (II 41.16) speaks of it as "The best mother, the best river, the best goddess".

Recent researches, particularly of Dr V S Wakankar, conducted with sophisticated instruments, such as multi-spectral scanner, I have clearly established that the Saraswati was not a mythological river It actually existed and flowed from the foothills of the Himalayas, through what is now the Thar desert, to the Rann of Kutch on the Arabian Sea. It dried up because its main tributary, the Sutlej, changed its course, approximately at a right angle, consequent to geological changes.

After the drying up of the Saraswati, the community that developed on its banks dispersed. A section of this community comprising Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas moved towards the mountains and finally settled in the Kashmir valley Among the settlers, the Brahmins soon acquired a pre eminent position, largely because of their great learning in mathematics, philosophy, astrology and law. In course of time they came to be known as the Kashmiri Pandits.

The mother tongue of the Kashmiri Pandits was Sanskrit, and they made the valley a great nursery of Hindu culture Many schools of thought were developed, including the celebrated Trikka philosophy, popularly called Kashmir Shaivism All this has justifiably given the valley the name of Saradapith - the seat of Sarada, the Goddess of Learning .

The kings of Kashmir and those of the other parts of North India had strong links and were motivated by the same type of cultural and political aspirations It has appropriately been remarked that "ancient India has nothing more worthy of its early civilization than the grand ruins of Kashmir".

In the early fourteenth century, with the conversion of the then ruler, Rinchana Muslim rule commenced The Pandit community underwent its most tragic phase during the regime of Sultan Sikander (1389-1413). A relentless campaign for conversion to Islam was launched. As Ferishta recorded: "Many Brahmins, rather than abandon their religion or their country, poisoned themselves, some emigrated from their native homes, while a few escaped the evil of banishment of becoming Mohammedans." Only 11 Pandit families were left.

Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (1420-70 A.D.) turned out to be the most benevolent ruler that Kashmir has known. It has been correctly remarked that "history can give few examples where the policy was so completely reversed by the successor. Where Sikander destroyed Zain-ul-Abidin restored where the former banished, he latter recalled

"By the time Mughal rule commenced in Kashmir in 1589, the Pandits had regained their poise and position. Their number was estimated by Abul Fazal, during Akbar's regime, at 2,000 .

During Aurangzeb's reign, one of his Governors, Iftikar Khan (1671-75), persecuted the Pandits. They approached Guru Tegh Bahadur. He consoled them and said, "You tell the Mughals that the Brahmins would accept Islam if Tegh Bahadur, whom they revere as Guru, is persuaded to do so." This infuriated Aurangzeb and led to the Guru's martyrdom And the Sikh faith and history took a new turn.

Afghan rule (1762-1819) was no better. A Pandit nobleman, Birbal Dhar, sought Maharaja Ranjit Singh's protection and offered him, in turn, help to occupy Kashmir In 1819 Ranjit Singh added Kashmir to his kingdom. But Sikh rule lasted only 27 years (1819-1846). It was followed by about 100 years of Dogra regime.

Whatever unkind quirks the Pandits' fate might have brought to them in the past, they pale into insignificance when compared to what has been happening to them since the middle of 1989. As a part of the overall framework of terrorism, practically the entire community, totaling about 2,50,000 was made to flee the valley The strategy adopted was to "kill one and frighten one thousand" and simultaneously arouse religious frenzy and spread hatred against the Pandits by describing them as "informers of the Centre and agents of Brahmanical imperialism.

The present tragedy has been compounded by the fact that the Kashmiri Pandits are suffering not under the fanatic zeal of mediaeval Sultans, but under the "secular rulers" of free India. What is still more unfortunate is that some "noted columnists'' and self-styled upholders of human rights have been rubbing salt into the wounds of Kashmiri Pandits by insinuating that the migration from the valley was induced. But their slant and slander stand thoroughly exposed not only by the subsequent events but also by such contemporaneous records as cited by HN Jattu, President of All-India Kashmiri Pandit Conference, in his well-publicized document of October 13, 1993. (The full text of this has also been given in Appendix XXVII of "My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir'', fourth edition).

Most of the Kashmiri migrants are staying on scanty relief, in miserable camps. The Punjab government, for instance, is providing relief at the scale of only Rs 460 per family per month..

That during the past five years none of the Prime Ministers - Mr V.P. Singh, Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr Narasimha Rao felt the prick of conscience to visit any of these camps shows how compassion has completely dried up in the minds of the Indian rulers. Since the poor Kashmiri Pandits have no balance in their vote banks, they are not much bothered about.

To bring home the point, a recent case of double standard may be given. The State Bank of India, in violation of normal rules and procedures, recruited a number of youth from the insurgency-ridden valley. The Government of India is also paying about Rs 5 crore as an annual grant to the HMT unit at Srinagar. No other unit of HMT is getting a single naya paisa as grant. No objection, perhaps, need be taken to such special treatment being accorded. But what is deplorable is the totally different standard applied to the migrant employees of Ellaquai Dehati Bank. A simple measure to enable husband and wife to be posted at the same station and thus provide some relief to them and their aged parents is not being taken by the Government of India. Belligerency is rewarded But the cries of the loyal sufferer are not heeded.

For the Kashmiri Pandits, neither the right to vote in absentia nor the suggestion of leaders like Shabbir Shah to return to the valley has any meaning. Their miseries would end only when terro. SM is rooted out, when politics of expediency gives way to politics of fairness and when the "indifference of the bystanders" is replaced by a positive public action.

Gandhiji said: "Politics bereft of principles are a death-trap; they kill the soul of the nation''. If the present attitudes persist, not only one of the most intelligent, versatile and proud communities, the Kashmiri Pandits, would be permanently scattered and become extinct but also push the nation further towards the fatal trap which its unprincipled politics and lack of compassion and commitment are laying.

Courtesy: The Tribune December 7, 1994 (Originally Published in The Tribune)

Courtesy:- Jagmohan Ex Governor J&K State and December 1994 Koshur Samachar

DISCLAIMER :

The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."