Kashmiri Pandits Community confined to Surnames

The focus should not be on counting the years of exile for Kashmiri Pandits, but on what they have lost over the past thirty-five years of dispersion across the mainland of India. This has caused a significant decline in their ethnic identity. They have become increasingly detached from their original roots. They are struggling to adapt to new environments, surroundings, and climatic conditions, which has resulted in a hollow and unfulfilling sense of belonging to Kashmir. Thirty-five years is a long time to be away from their healthy, moderate climate region, and the loss of their native language. Their disconnection from their homeland, memories of the areas they carried from their forced exile from the valley-under threat from imported guns-are fading each day in the subtropical and temperate zones of secure metropolitan cities. During these years of exile, a generation of senior individuals who had spent most of their lives is no longer present. With their departure, the vivid anecdotes and stories of their Kashmiri days, which served as living memories of Kashmir for the new generation, have ended. As a result, the inherited cultural ethos and religious rituals passed down through generations are no longer readily accessible to the younger community. The second generation of displaced persons has less Kashmiri background and knowledge. As a result of that, it failed to fully convey the significance Kashmir held in shaping their personalities to the younger members of the family. Seeking sustenance or employment whether in the private or government sectorsled youth across the country to explore opportunities for their survival. A considerable number of Kashmiri Pandit youth migrated abroad, secured positions in prominent companies, and eventually brought their parents to join them. Such family separations have impacted cohesion, community unity, and shared values. Their segregated lifestyles have distanced them from one another across India and internationally, reducing their interest in social, political, and traditional community affairs. Their living conditions in urban areas have limited the use of spoken Kashmiri, whether in schools, colleges, or social circles. Its use has become confined mainly to dinner table conversations within nuclear families, often involving parents and one or two children. The practice of speaking Kashmiri daily within families has further declined, especially with the emergence of intercommunity marriages, involving non-Kashmiri boys and girls. Gone are the days when, in a joint family under a hierarchical patriarchal system, people recited Sanskrit verses from the Mahimnastotra, Panchastav, or Gayatri Mantra, or paid obeisance at Maa Kali, Maa Zalla Bhagwati, Maa Chakreshwari, Maa Badrikalle on religious days. It was a significant social spectacle within the Kashmiri community. Their morning routine of visiting the local temple to worship is no longer observed. These were the days of old Kashmir, where they led contented lives with whatever little they earned after their hard day's work. For the Kashmiri Pandit minority, the dawn of independence in 1947 marked an economic decline, following the enactment of the big land abolition Act 1952, which restricted the limit of 180 acres of land to owners and the abolition of moneylenders by the late Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, the first Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. In his second term as Chief Minister, the late Sheikh introduced the J&K Agrarian Reform Act 1976, under which tillers had proprietary rights of the land they ploughed by paying a certain amount. The original landowners, who were mostly community members, were deprived of their land without any compensation. These two acts were drafted with provisions that made them unchallengeable in the law court. In the other states of India, the Land to the Tenants was not successful. The execution of the act on the ground in the state of Jammu and Kashmir was implemented by the political manoeuvring of the regional Muslim leadership. In the subsequent years of the successive ruling dispensation from the late Sheikh down to Dr Faroog Abdullah, the employment opportunities, departmental promotions, and admission in professional colleges were squeezed for Kashmir Pandits in the state services. It was to create economic strangulation for the community, which would automatically move out of the state in search of job opportunities. It was a silent, premeditated ethnic cleansing step adopted by the regional leadership without getting noticed. In his one-to-one meeting with the late Jawahir Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, late R.K.Kak, the correspondent of the Statesman, was said to have cautioned the Late Nehru that every Kashmiri Pandit was an Indian sentinel in Kashmir, and he should try to keep their interests safe. It was the prophetic assessment of late R.K.Kak about the future of the community in the valley. This conversation was later disclosed to the writer of the column in an informal meeting. The dynamics of mass displacement in human history have been driven by environmental, economic, and geographical factors that compelled people to migrate to new areas. In many cases, it was invading marauders who caused people to flee from their homes to safer zones. Unlike typical migration patterns, the primary reason for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley was the presence of gun-toting neighbour boys radicalised to wage a political war against the state. In this conflict between the majority population and the Indian government, the Kashmiri Pandits, being pro-India and easy targets, were hunted by Pakistan-trained JKLF cadres. Having lost trust in the Muslim majority of the valley and with the failure of the state administration, the small Pandit minority was compelled to leave their homes in search of a region where they could find safety. During the period from 1989-90 to 2025, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has not been recognised as victims of human rights violations by the Indian government. The highest court of India has yet to deliver justice to them after thirty-five years of their statelessness. They lost their ethnic identity, and their hopes were shattered when the Indian state failed to provide legitimate political justice despite its extensive democratic, liberal, secular, and socialist constitution. The ruling dispensation of India or the state shows no concern for them. Now. after thirty-five years in exile, community members have integrated with other citizens across various states.■

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Courtesy: Surinder Koul  and Koshur Samachar-20,December