Kashmiri Pandits- The Victims of Violent History

Som Nath Dhar  

[The author has empirically traced the travails of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley who have been harassed by past and present rulers We reproduce this thought provoking article here with the author's permission-Ed.]

Tashmini Pandits (KPs, for short) have suffered K many times over the ages. There is a saying that only 11 KP families were left in the Valley as a tragic result of the persecution of Sultan Sikander who took pride in being known as the but-shikan (idol breaker). He proclaimed by beat of drum that if a KP did not embrace Islam, he must leave the country or be executed

Sultan Sikander had recalcitrant KPs murdered by the hour of Or. tied in gunny bags, they were drowned in Dal Lake. There is a spot on a bank of the Dai Lake, still known as Batta-Mazar (graveyard of Battas, or Hindus). He had the Martand, the grandest temple raised on a most commanding site, razed to the ground Not content with that, he had the nearby forest cut down and big logs of timber burnt inside and outside the temple, to deface the intricate imagery on the shining sandstone.

Providentially, better times were ushered during the benign reign of Sultan Zain-ul Abidin (1420 1470 AD) He restored them to their status Many KPs returned to their land and his name will always be written in golden letters in the chequered annals of Kashmir.

After the rule of the Chaks-a Dardic warrior tribe-a glorious chapter in the history of Kashmir began with the reign of Akbar in 1586 which lasted for 19 years. Akbar built Hari Parbat fort in Srinagar, on the hill of the same name Akbar was succeeded by his son, Jehangir, who had already fallen under the spell of Kashmir Jehangir made many pleasure gardens in Kashmir, notably the famous Shalimar. But the last Mughal king. Aurangzeb extended to Kashmir his policy of religious persecution.

Then followed Afghan rule, in 1753. It was a "time of brutal tyranny, unrelieved by good works of chivalry or honour"-(Sir Walter Lawrence). Not only Hindus but Shias were persecuted. A large number of the terror-stricken population left the Valley for good. Birbal Dhar-our ancestor secretly left Kashmir to contact Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He sent Sikh forces, commanded by Raja Gulab Singh, who defeated the last Afghan governor. The Sikhs, however, were "hard and tough masters" (Younghusband). Kashmiris still use the expression "the Sikh face" (sikki-but). It is a historical irony that Birbal Dhar, who continued to be a revenue collector, was imprisoned by a Sikh governor on the charge of misappropriation of State revenue, and died in prison. His sad story has been reflected in the fate of present-day KPs who have suffered excruciatingly, since 1989, for their faith in the secularism of India.

The uprooted Pandits are eking out miserable days of subhuman existence in camps in Jammu and Udhampur. Similar is the case with those living in Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar and pockets of Himachal Pradesh. "They have become highly traumatised and restive", wrote a contemporary recently, under the title "Plight of Pandits". It added, inter alia, "They should be taken out of the hell-holes of tented colonies. This will bring some succour to the terrorised sections of the community". The heaven they have left behind beckons them constantly. But what is there for them to go back to is the million dollar question? The houses they left behind are in shambles Whatever property the houses contained was looted by the terrorists-in some cases, in concert with the corrupt elements of the BSF and other security forces.

A KP military officer, Onkar Nath Razdan, who was in Kashmir, visited his ancestral home in Srinagar recently. Writing in Pioneer (June 11, 1995), he observed, "The areas deserted by Pandits look like ghost towns. Houses once owned by Kashmiri Pandits were empty, desolate... The street-called Razdan Road-where I had played barefoot hockey was now a ghost street..."

The Razdan tale is not a solitary one. There is, however, a proverbial ray of hope-concretised in the person of the dauntless KPs who have stayed behind, braving myriad dangers in the process. It is they who hold the candle to the migrants, who are on the dole, living in subhuman conditions in the camps. Their occasional demonstrations do receive good press. Government-sponsored media like Doordarshan and AIR may not be of much help as these convey the ambivalence of the Government, best illustrated in its attitude towards the mooted elections, at present held in abeyance by the all-powerful Election Commission.

The crux of the problem is that KPs should be termed as "internally displaced persons". The onus is on them to present a united front. That they will be able to vote in the elections from their temporary abodes shall be to their good. Wherever they vote from is immaterial.

What matters is that Governments at the Centre and in the States-duly constituted after the mooted elections restore the dignity and homes of these internally displaced people. They have suffered a lot. Enough is enough.

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Courtesy: The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, December 15, 1995

Courtesy:- Som Nath Dhar and February 1996 Koshur Samachar