Globalized confusion among Kashmiri Pandits

Dr L N Dhar Ex President Kashmir Samiti Delhi and Chairman, Political Affairs, Kashmiri Samiti Delhi 2012

It is often remarked during drawing room discussions in Kashmiri Pandit households that it is impossible for us to have an individual as our unanimous leader. One could go on to say that Kashmiri Pandits even find it impossible to support a single representational body, with multiple leaders to represent diverse points of view of the community Hence the lack of a clear political voice representing the concerns of the majority of community members. Of late, we have worked out an ingenious solution to this problem that seems to be inspired by the corporate culture of this century. Any gathering of community members is smartly labelled as 'Global' to subtly convey to the reader that the decisions taken have a universal appeal and wide support from the community. Nothing. however, could be farther from the truth. Such events, organised by a few individuals for their own private gains, not only misrepresent the real mandate of the community but also create an atmosphere of mistrust and despair among the community members, making the future of our race even more vulnerable Recently, there was a similar 'Global' meet held in Jammu, where certain resolutions were passed by a group of people, most of whom have surprisingly forgotten the atrocities that their own families and friends bear Heaven only knows who empowered them to make these public declarations on behalf of half a million individuals. I am referring to a news report on this same meet that has left me bewildered at the lack of insight and thoughtfulness that has gone into passing such naïve resolutions With all due respect to the participants' points of view, I will try to elucidate point by point, why these viewpoints simply need to be abandoned, as follows:

1. Commission of enquiry for fixing responsibility of KP ethnic cleansing

I find it hard to believe that some of our leaders have chosen to completely ignore their first- hand experiences in the valley to ask for an official enquiry into the reasons of our exile. In all probability, the proposed commission will put some historians, journalists or sociologists from JNU on a panel that will submit, after a decade of procrastination, a politically correct report to Parliament that will fix the entire blame of our exodus on Pakistan and will give a clean chit to Kashmiri Muslims, the "soldiers" who fought on the battlefront of this jehad. We recognize, with absolute certainty, those that are responsible for our plight and we do not need official reports to inform us about it. Will someone please clarify how this official enquiry will benefit the community?

2. Satellite township in the Valley

Let me remind the readers that there were certain undeniable factors that led to the migration of our entire community from our own homeland. For those who were born post migration and those whose memories of the horrible episode have faded, it is helpful to point out that the most important reason for our displacement was the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the valley and the ensuing violence. I fail to see how those conditions have improved to an extent that we are now contemplating of living next door to the very same people who almost wiped us off the face of the earth. It does not befit us to speak the language of politicians in matters concerning our own. welfare. Therefore, all talk of Kashmiriyat is a mighty hoax given a new lease of life by its inclusion in various debates and articles of propaganda, which gives an impression that things were all gung-ho before Pakistan sponsored terrorism hit the valley. We know better that Kashmiriyat for us always meant humiliation and second class treatment and it was a reflection of the hatred that Kashmiri Muslims had for India and in turn, for Kashmiri Pandits, the sole symbol of India inside the valley. After years of deliberations and discussions, our community evolved a strategy for our safe return and broadly outlined the model of our homeland, namely Panun Kashmir. Will these global leaders care to explain why they reject the idea of Panun Kashmir and opt for something so radically different instead?

3. Political Empowerment of

KPS By political empowerment is implied a representation of our community in the State Assembly. We are told that this will be the end to all our woes as the voice of our representative will powerfully manoeuvre all debates on the floor of the House in our favour. All rosy and bright but again, our eminent comrades conveniently forget that we had representatives in the legislative assembly even before 1990 but as they were grossly outnumbered, their vote was as insignificant as a speck of dust. How then are we expected to buy this hogwash and believe that a KP MLA will breathe a new life into our fading existence? Of course, the real reason for passing such resolutions is quite rational. For the few individuals contesting polls, this becomes a major agenda in their campaign to garner votes from within the community. But for most of us, this is a cruel joke.

4. Minority Status

Many lively community debates have been centred on this topic and to my knowledge, none has been conclusive, the prime reason being that it is really difficult to find a tangible benefit to the community by ascribing it with an official minority status. While there may be a few minor benefits, the constitutional status does little to improve the physical status of Kashmiri Pandits. Therefore, even though there is nothing majorly negative about pushing for this status, I am curious to know what were the deliberations and analyses that were carried out before passing this resolution. As we are presumably talking about matters of grave concern for our community in these 'global' forums, clubbing minority status issues with other more important points elevates it to an importance that it hardly deserves.

The above mentioned points are just an indication of how insensitive we have become to our own plight. It is a clear case of refusal to learn from one's own mistakes and a sad reminder of the approaching end of our ethnic identity. The lack of depth in the thoughts. constituting these resolutions. and the brashness with which these are branded as the authentic voice of the community tell us something about the trivial web of selfish interests that some eminent members of our community have got entangled in. How else can one come to terms with the preposterousness of the suggestion of going back to the valley without accounting for the risk to our lives and honour? If we really need to pass a resolution, it should be this, that we will never forget the atrocities that we faced before and after our exile and we will never let our children go through the same. If we pass this as the principal resolution in every gathering that we organise, I am sure that the other points would not even be discussed, let alone passed. What we need urgently is economic compensation from the government for the losses that we have suffered, human, emotional and financial. As I have often said before, the compensation should be handed to us at our current places of stay and should be delinked from when we choose to return to Kashmir, which we will consider when there is a full and final settlement of the issue and when the atmosphere is free of hatred towards us. For that to happen, the government should hold regular dialogue with us, more for the betterment of their own understanding with regard to Kashmir and less for instructing us on our own future.

(The writer is former President and presently, Chairman, Political Affairs, Kashmiri Samiti Delhi)

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Courtesy:-  Dr L N Dhar Ex. President Kashmir Samiti Delhi and April 2012, Koshur Samachar