Kashmir Silhouettes From the Past

 

Breakdown in administration and rise of militancy militancy in Kashmir (1983-90): Several factors can be listed as responsible for breakdown in administration: Active interference from Pakistan: The Paki establishment could not digest J&K's accession to India and the defeat of 1947-48. It continued its attempts to destabilize Kashmir not only by playing the religion card but also by pushing men covertly into India (Operation Gibraltar, Aug 1965, followed by Operation Grand Slam, Sept 1965. Post 1971 humiliation, Bhutto (waging a 1000 yr war) and later Gen Zia initiated the Operation Bleed India Through 1000 Cuts in 1980. Two Indian states, Punjab and J&K were targeted through overt and covert operations; the Khalistan movement and Militancy in Kashmir were provided financial, material, and financial support by Pakistan. Operation Bard (Kargil incursion, Oct 1998-July 1999) was yet another attempt to push Pakistani Army men disguised as Mujahidin into India. Playing the Religious Card: Shiekh Abdullah rose in politics due to his ability to use religion as a polarising agent. He was adept at using the pulpit from Hazratbal Mosque in Srinagar. The political party he launched in 1932(with blessings of the British) was named Muslim Conference! The first slogan, in any of his political rallies used to be Narae Takbir.... Over the years, this allowed Jam ate-Islami to make deep inroads into Kashmir, post 1971. It has been able to place highly indoctrinated cadres in important administrative positions in J&K Administration, particularly in educational institutions. It is estimated that J-e-I is running over 400 schools in Kashmir, radicalizing a large section of the population! Fraudulent Elections: Since 1951, J&K has seen only rigged elections, barring 1977 and 2024. This led to massive disenchantment. Probably, the worst 'rigging' happened in 1987 elections (a joint venture of Farooq Abdullah and Rajiv Gandhi which led to massive protests and youth started going to Pakistan for getting arms training. Poor Political Leadership: Farooq never had the political stature of his father. Farooq has never been serious about his responsibilities. His inefficiency as an administrator led to the breakdown in administration in the 1986-1990 period. What happened post 1986 -90: The 'personal friendship' between Farooq and Rajiv Gandhi convinced the Machiavellian Mufti Saeed (Congress head in Kashmir) that his ambition for political power was being thwarted. To emphasize his nuisance value, Mufti engineered Communal riots in Anantnag, his pocket borough in 1986, destroying 8 Temples and many Hindu properties. Rajiv Gandhi tried to reward' him by making him Tourism Minister in Govt of India (1986-87). However, the politically ambitious Mufti was not happy with a token, toothless ministry. His party-hopped to join VP Singh's Govt as Home Minister of India (1989-90). In 1999, Mufti formed his own political outfit, PDP Fraudulent Elections of 1987: In a massively rigged election, Farooq+ Rajiv Gandhi alliance won 66 out of 76 seats. Results created a political storm in the valley. Farooq became the CM for the fourth time but lost the nerve to rule due to open defiance by people in the valley. First lot of Kashmiri youth are said to have crossed over to POJK for arms training! HISTORY OPT Heroes of the rigged elections of 1987 Chickens come home to roost- 1989 to 1990: 1600 violent incidents, including 351 bomb blasts took place in eleven months of 1989. • Targeted killing of Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits) started from September 1989. Pt Trikala Taploo, Justice NK Ganjoo, Pt Prem Nath Bhat of Anantnag, Satish Tickoo, Pt Lassa Kaul (Director Doordarshan), Pt Sarvanand Premi, noted poet were among many community leaders killed by terrorists. This targeted killing sent a message to the miniscule Hindu community. 18 Home Minister Mufti's daughter Rubaiya Saeed was kidnapped on December 8, 1989 and 5 big-time terrorists were released by Farooq Govt in exchange for Ms Saeed. Seventy Kashmiri terrorists from the first batch of Pakistan ISI Trained Kashmiri terror mongers, arrested by J&K Police, were released by the Farooq Govt in 1989. DrS. P. Vaid (DGP of J&K Police from December 2016 to Sept 2018) has recently mentioned details, including names of released terrorists! Jag Mohan wrote to Rajiv Gandhi about this in April 1990. 이 Between January 1 and January 19, 1990, there were as many as 319 violent acts - 21 armed attacks, 114 bomb blasts, 112 arsons, and 72 incidents of mob violence. - On 4 January 1990, Srinagar-based newspaper Atfar contained a message, threatening all Hindus to leave Kashmir immediately, sourcing it to the militant organization Hizbul Mujahideen. These are on record. Another Srinagar based newspaper named Al-Safa republished the same warning. The newspapers did not claim ownership of the statement and subsequently issued a clarification but the damage was done. Walls were pasted with posters with threatening messages to all Kashmiris to strictly follow Islamic rules which included abidance by the Islamic dress code, a prohibition on alcohol, cinemas, and strict restrictions on women. Unknown masked men with Kalashnikovs forced people to reset their time to Pakistan Standard Time. Offices buildings, shops, and establishments were coloured green as a sign of Islamic rule. Shops, factories, temples, and homes of Kashmiri Hindus were burned or destroyed. Threatening posters were put on doors of Hindus asking them to leave Kashmir immediately. Individual letters too were sent. During the middle of the night of 18 and 19 January, a blackout took place in the Kashmir Valley where electricity was cut except in mosques which broadcast divisive and inflammatory messages, asking for a purge of Kashmiri Hindus. The slogan, "Raliv, Chaliyv ya Galiv" was repeatedly broadcast throughout the fateful night. Following the terrifying nights of Jan 18-19, Kashmiri Hindus started leaving for the safer havens of Udhampur -Jammu - Delhi and beyond. Between 5-7 lac Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs are reported to have migrated from Kashmir valley. People carried whatever little they could and dumped them in open grounds in Jammu. Tented refugee colonies came up in Nagrota, Muthi, Jagati and several other suburbs of Jammu. For over 20 yrs, families continued to live in tattered tents. Kashmiri Pandits tried to return several times, particularly in rural areas but every single attempt was ruthlessly crushed by Islamic merchants of death (Sangrampora- 1997, Wandhama -1998, Chattisingpora-2000, Nandimarg-2002 massacres, to name a few). It is important to note that targeted killing of minority Hindus sends a chilling message to the entire community. Sarpanch Ajay Bharti was killed in Lukbhavan (Anantnag) on June 8, 2020, BJP leader Rakesh Pandita was killed in Tral (June 21), Mr ML Bindroo, a noted Chemist was killed in October 21. Bal Kishen Bhat was shot at in Chotigam, Shopian on April 4, 2022. As his brother Anil Bhat told an interviewer," No one wants Hindus to live in Kashmir. People just want to grab our property." Anil said that people have not even left our cremation grounds - they have made houses on those too! As of date, thousands of Kashmiri Pandit 'migrants' continue to live in one BHK accommodation in different parts of Jammu, Jagati and Udhampur townships, 35 yrs. after they were forced to leave their homes and hearths by Islamic terrorists. This presentation shall be incomplete without gratefully acknowledging the role Maharashtra has played in providing relief to Kashmiri Hindus. Late Bala Sahab Thakre was approached by a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits led by Pt Amarnath Vaishnavi - they just wanted educational opportunities for the migrant children. It is said that Pt Vaishnavi put his turban on the feet of Bala Sahab, requesting his intervention to save the future generations of KP community so that they do not become stone pelters or fall into the 'intifada' trap of the Kashmiri Muslim youth or become a burden on the society. What came out of this meeting was nothing short of a miracle. Bala Sahib asked his Govt in Maharashtra to give reservation in certain technical courses to the children of migrant Kashmiri Hindus. This single decision (1992) changed the fortunes of our community for ever. Suddenly, 700-800 children got admissions in engineering, agriculture, and management colleges across Maharashtra - something that was impossible in J&K under the communally biased administration. After a few years, some other states too started providing this facility, in various formats.

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Courtesy: Sanjeev Munshi and Koshur Samachar-2025, August