[59], Scholar Christopher Snedden states that the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Kashmir Valley's population in 1947. It was replaced by Urdu in 1889 during the Dogra rule. While India would like the current phase of stability at the LoC to continue, it has little incentive to try to make a grand gesture toward peace with Pakistan. A day after a Kashmiri Pandit's killing in Pulwama, the Bharatiya Janta Party on Monday held protests at several places in Kashmir. And the Prime Minister has said that the truth is coming out. Matters came to a head on the night of January 19, 1990. However, respect for the Pandits (many of whom were teachers) and a shared Kashmiri identity that held Pandits and Muslims together prevented differences from erupting into conflict. It is against the Kashmiri ethos, a Pandit teacher based in Bengaluru said, stressing that exclusive townships and segregated communities would deepen the divide between Pandits and Muslims in the Valley. He was one of the first persons to help them after which Punjab also followed suit. 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In 1988, militants assassinated one of the top BJP leaders of the Valley, Tika Lal Taploo, in front of several eyewitnesses. She write read more, Copyright 2023 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Why Haryana sarpanches are protesting against e-tenders for infra works, Rupert Murdoch testifies Fox anchors endorsed claims of Biden stealing 2020 polls: What he said, significance. Should it provide these Pandit settlements in the Valley with tight security, people would be keen to return home, he adds. The Kashmiri Pandit community decided to leave. In exchange for Rubaiya, five JKLF associates were freed from jails. Kashmir was in ferment. Asia, Pacific A lot has changed since then but the more things change the more they remain the same. 30 years after they were forced to flee, the return of Hindu Pandits to the Kashmir Valley remains a distant dream. A second, larger wave left in March and April, after more Pandits were killed. As for those Pandits who left the Valley, many were put up in tented accommodation in camps in Jammu and New Delhi initially and subsequently in townships in these cities. This list included the Kashmiri Pandits, the Nagar Brahmins from Gujarat; the South Indian Brahmins; the Punjabi Khatris, and Kayasthas from northern India; Chitpawans and CKPs (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus) from Maharashtra; the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis; the Parsis and the upper crusts of Muslim and Christian communities. It is high time that drastic measures are taken to redress the situation," he said. How the international community views the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir has changed as well. The Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus who are also called Kashmiri Pandits, was seventh ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits by radical Islamists in Kashmir Valley around 1990. The exodus took place at the same time that the BJP was upping the ante across northern India, and over the years, the plight of Kashmiri Pandits has become a potent Hindutva issue. [73][74], The Kashmiri Pandits have a tradition of consuming meat, including mutton and fish, but they obey restrictions laid down by the shastras of not eating the meat of forbidden animals such as beef and pork. An eye-witness report by two investigative journalists on the ground in Prato, Italy. Many followers of the traditional religions who did not convert to Islam instead migrated to other parts of India. Several moved to other cities in India and abroad, where they have done well professionally. Sanjay Tickoo, a Kashmiri Pandit was barely 20-years-old in 1989-90, when he witnessed what came to be known as the "Kashmiri Pandit Exodus". 22 Mar 2022. No police commission, special investigation team (SIT), or judicial panel was constituted to probe the genocide-triggered exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. It was evident that Kashmiri Muslims wanted us to leave the Valley, Ashok Dhar, who left Baramulla for Jammu on February 2, 1990, told The Diplomat. Since the abrogation of Article 370 tightens Indias control over the region, the decision was widely welcomed by the Pandit community. [13][14] Another notable feature of early Kashmiri society was the relative high regard in which women were held when compared to their position in other communities of the period. The Sultan has been referred to as an iconoclast because of his destruction of many non-Muslim religious symbols and the manner in which he forced the population to convert or flee. WebNew Delhi: Recalling the dreadful images and horrors of the years that followed post the advent of militancy in Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits urged the Central government to 'relocate' them to their native lands with respect and dignity and called for unity amongst the 'Kashmiri Pandits'. What happened in January 1990 is bitterly contested. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. At that time in Central BJP+JD were in power and in J&K JKNC (Farooq Abdullah) was in power. Although Farooq Abdullah was with full majority, he wa Most Popular. The killings of innocent natives and ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri Pandits must be seen in the context of the deeper intent to secure the secession of Jammu and Kashmir. Asia, South The year 1984 also saw another crucial event that contributed significantly to the rise of separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir: the hanging Maqbool Bhat, JKLF co-founder and a pioneer of the secessionist movement. Many fell into disrepair. Kashmiri journalist Gowhar Geelani notes in his work, Insulting Facts With Fiction to Suit One's Narrative, that on the request of some Kashmiri Muslims, senior Indian administrator Wajahat Habibullah, posted in Anantnag in 1990 as Special Commissioner, had appealed to Jagmohan to dissuade the Pandits from leaving the Valley. At best, the younger generation of Pandits look to Kashmir as a holiday destination. They were assured that once the massacre in Kashmir was completed and the movement (for self-determination) curbed, they would be sent back to Threats from Islamist militants in the Valley forced around 70,000 Pandit families comprising over 350,000 women, men, and children to flee their homes in the weeks and months that followed. Black Day: January 19 is observed as the Holocaust day by the Kashmiri Pandit community. An agreement, popularly known as the 1975 Indira-Sheikh Accord, was signed between Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah and then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. During the period of Chinese military sources can tell us exactly what the PLA is learning. In the decades since the Pandit exodus, Kashmir has seen immense bloodshed. Just around 600 Pandit families stayed in the Valley. During the period of Cries of hum wapas ayenge (we will return) rent the air and #HumWapasAayenge has been trending on social media in recent weeks. It sent shock waves through the Pandit community. Vivek Agnihotri's film, The Kashmir Files, explores the tragic history of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, positing itself as an account of the events that transpired in the Valley in the early 1990s. [10], According to Indian government, more than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri migrants including some Sikh and Muslim families. In 1986, after the Rajiv Gandhi government opened the Babri Masjid locks to enable Hindus to offer prayers there, ripples were felt in Kashmir too. Those who chose to the first of these were told to leave their women behind. Many Pandits celebrated the Indian government move as they believe it will pave the way for their return to the Valley. Please take some time to moderate it now! Speaking at the programme 'Global Kashmiri Pandit Conclave: By then, the Pandits had begun to be targeted. What is the truth of the 1990s Kashmiri Pandit migration? [47], There are zones set up with offices for relief. for Us, opposition to such Pandit-only settlements. I've heard cases. [71] Frederick J. Simoons says that according to some reports, Kashmiri Pandits also consume fish as part of their diet. A day after a Kashmiri Pandit's killing in Pulwama, the Bharatiya Janta Party on Monday held protests at several places in Kashmir. In response, Abdullah resigned on the same day and Jagmohan suggested the dissolution of the State Assembly. openlibrary.org, One of the many camps of Kashmiri Pandit refugees who fled Kashmir Valley during 1990 genocide. Power, Crossroads In the decades since the Pandit exodus, Kashmir has seen immense bloodshed. The first such killing of a Kashmiri Pandit leader set the tone of what was to follow. The other contentious question about the exodus is the role played by the administration, and more specifically that of the J&K Governor, Jagmohan. Singh to appoint Jagmohan as the governor of the state. Journalist-lawyer Prem Nath Bhat was shot dead near his house in Anantnag shortly after. Wherever they live, their memories of events in 1989-90 remain vivid as are their rather idyllic recollections of their lives before their flight from the Valley. Click here to subscribe for full access. The mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits began. Successive governments have promised that they will help this process, but the situation on the ground in Kashmir has meant this remains only an intention. Because the truth is worth it.). Historical India is an opensource community based project dedicated to the history of Greater India. The migrants included some Pandits, although it is possible that some of this community relocated for economic reasons as much as to escape the new rulers. In February 1990 the month after the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits, Amanullah Khan told an interviewer, Yes, it was [a long-term plan]it had to be well Armed militants, dressed in army fatigues, infiltrated a colony of Kashmiri Pandits in Pulwama's Nadimarg on 23 March 2003. In Anantnag shortly after leave their women behind project dedicated to the first of these were told leave!, Tika Lal Taploo, in front of several eyewitnesses tight security, people would be keen to return,... 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