Pandit Apathy-Killing of KPs and callousness of LG administration towards employees betrays the Governance

Ashok Bhan

1. LG should set up a task force to probe into intent of the vested interests in the minority targeted killings & look into the legitimate issues of KPs who have been demanding safety and wages.
2. Terrorists target Pandits because they view them as being loyal to India and this mentality needs to be defeated by reviving composite Kashmiri culture

Dealing with Kashmir affairs without engaging the stake holders and exiled KPs is like a bull will do in a China shop.

The LG administration is exactly doing the bull way. Not engaging with political and societal stakeholders. Busy in drum beating of show casing the photos of Lt. Governor inaugurating the projects that were decided by previous people's governments.

There is hardly any newer projects in public domain that could generate employment. Presenting old wine in new bottles is the expertise of LG administration.

Although the targeted killing of Kashmiri Pandits over the past few months has evoked anger in civil society, it manifests the deep societal divide between the communities in the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley. This new wave of attacks mainly targeting Hindu migrant workers and Kashmiri Pandits started after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The terrorists have so far killed four Pandits, who had chosen to stay in Kashmir against all odds. It began last year with the killing of prominent businessman M L Bindroo who was shot at his medical store in Srinagar in October.

On May 12 this year, terrorists shot Rahul Bhat inside the revenue office where he worked in Budgam. On August 18, militants killed Sunil Kumar and injured Paitamber Kumar inside an orchard in the Chotipora village of Shopian. The 48-year-old Puran Krishan Bhat, who owned an apple orchard in the Shopian district was attacked just outside his home.

The new breed of terrorists are mostly locals, who have  been radicalized. The question is, why Kashmiri Pandits are targets? Because they are the real bulwark against the radicalization of Kashmir and represent the revival of the plural rich Kashmiri ethos and culture.

Kashmiri Pandits have an existential stake in the Valley. They have to be physically present on the soil of the Kashmir Valley as living components and stakeholders and day-to-day participants in the socio-economic, political, cultural and spiritual ethos. They represent Kashmir, which was considered the abode of Saraswati, the highest seat of learning in India and was also Sharda Peeth. So much so that students graduating from Kashi would take four symbolic steps towards Kashmir, denoting their aspiration for higher learning. Almost the entire body of Sanskrit literature has its origins in Kashmir.

Rajatarangini, an authoritative historical tome on the royal lineage of Kashmir, written by Kalhana in the 12th century, outlines the greatness of Kashmiri Pandit King Lalitaditya, possibly the most powerful Indian emperor of all times, whose kingdom in the 8th century extended from the Caspian Sea in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south, and included Assam in the east.

Kashmiri Pandits draw linage from Sarangadeva considered the father of both Hindustani and Carnatic music and Acharya Abhinav Gupta, one of the greatest scholars of all times, who wrote 46 literary classics, including the renowned Abhinav Bharti. His principles of RAS are being taught in 80 universities around the world.

Rediscovering Roots

Three decades after living in exile when the community was slowly and steadily coming to terms and many in the new generation had started unearthing and rediscovering their roots in the targeted killings have derailed their plans to their shock. In 1989-90, when the anti-India insurgency was just beginning, several Pandits in Srinagar and other towns in Kashmir were killed by militants. It triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of Pandits from the valley to Jammu and other parts of India.

But post-2010, societal relations between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims had started rebuilding, thanks to the efforts of many people including this writer. This helped the appointment of 4,500 Kashmiri Pandit employees being deployed in Kashmir of whom around 1,100 live in transit accommodations and the rest in rented spaces. Some of them had started investing in the reconstruction of their homes on the lands they own.

The government says that major terror groups, with their masterminds sitting across the border, are worried over the sea change that has come in the situation in the Valley. Despite protests and demands, by Pandit employees, the Centre has decided not to allow the mass transfer or relocation of these employees from the Valley to the Jammu division.

Contrary to the claims of the authorities, the ground situation in Kashmir is very grim. The infiltration has neither come down nor have authorities succeeded to stop the targeted killings. The Pandits are sandwiched between the so-called national interests of two rival states, one of which claims to be the world's largest democracy. While the iron-fisted policy of the Centre has brought the number of militant attacks on the security forces down and the frequency of bands and stone-pelting has stopped, it has not brought any difference to Kashmiri Pandits, who again became soft targets. It is significant to mention that after 2003, the killing and targeting of Kashmiri Pandits had largely stopped, because of the engagement and building of societal relations.

Kashmiri Pandit Represents The History

Let the terrorists and their supporters in Kashmir realize that annihilation of the Pandit community means your destroying your existence, as they represent the link to their history. No community or nation can exist without its history. They need to understand that Kashmiris, irrespective of religion, comprise a shared culture and society. It is hoped that the central government shall revisit its J&K policy by demonstrating political will and large-heartedness in dealing with the Kashmir situation. There is a need to attend to societal relations along with finding ways to rehabilitate and provide security to Kashmiri Pandits in their homeland.

To quote what former Prime Minister IK Gujral once said: "For the illustrious Kashmiri Pandit community, which has contributed a great deal in shaping the nation building a democratic, progressive and secular India, if the coffers of the country are to be emptied for them, it would still be a small price to pay." There is a need to start a structured dialogue with Pandits, for designing a comprehensive,

time-bound package for return and rehabilitation in three smart cities. It shall not take more than two to three years for its implementation.

It would be in the interests of Justice to constitute an SIT under a retired Supreme Court judge to go into the killings in Kashmir and expose the communal cleansing.

The extremists have sought to project the conflict in Kashmir as a religious one. Islamist militants, for instance, supposedly target Pandits because they view the community as loyal to India, by virtue of their being Hindu. This mentality can be defeated only by promoting and reviving composite Kashmiri culture through a series of elaborate steps.

There is also a question, of whether settling Kashmiri Pandits into separate regions devoid of interaction with Muslims will secure them. If the government is keen to safeguard Pandits, it is not possible without taking local peace-loving Muslims into confidence. The local Muslims also need to shed prejudices created by radicals and warmly accept KPs in the larger plural society fold and ensure in their own interests to shield their Kashmiri Pandit brethren against bloodthirsty terrorists. After all Kashmir is part of Union of India and cannot be a singular community entity it has to be plural that is the rich past and new age youth has to ensure that Kashmir is Multi cultural, secular and a patriotic society or else the glory of Kashmiri ethos is personally in peril and peace will elude.

(Ashok Bhan is Chairman-Kashmir (Strategy & policy Group)

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Courtesy:- Ashok Bhan and January 2023, Spade A Spade