Agnihotri's rendition then suggests that this was among the factors that contributed to the exodus on 19 January, even though the threat was reported to have been published on 14 April, three months after the night of terror. 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. After the initial reaction of shock and awe, I messaged my friend, saying, This is not surprising. Sun worship is believed to have been brought into Kashmir by Kushan kings from Iran. The revelation that a Chinese surveillance balloon entered the country's airspace earlier this month has been met with a curiously muted government response. The efforts to resettle Pandits in the Valley in the last two decades have seen ghetto-like structures come up in various parts of Kashmir, ringed by concertina wire with heavy security, underlining that normal life is impossible. On 21 January 1990, two days into the governor's rule, the paramilitary troops of the Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) opened fire on a group of protesting civilians on the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, killing about 50 Kashmiri Muslims as per estimates. This led to huge disaffection and political instability. Chinese military sources can tell us exactly what the PLA is learning. A Kashmiri Pandit fact-checks The Kashmir Files In an EXCLUSIVE interview to SabrangIndia's Karuna John, KPSS Chief Sanjay Tickoo recalls events as they truly unfolded and not as they have been depicted in the movie 22 Mar 2022 (At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. WebThe Exodus It was 19 th of January, 1990 and days were cold and nights bitter, though there was no snow on the ground. [56], Following the 1989 insurgency, a great majority of Pandits felt threatened and left the Kashmir Valley for other parts of India. Neel Kanth Ganjoo, a retired judge who had sentenced Maqbool Bhat to death, was shot dead outside the J&K High Court in Srinagar on November 4. Foreign affairs, defence and communications remained the preserve of the central government. By then, the Pandits had begun to be targeted. The security situation along the India-Pakistan border remains of great concern. 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. A lot has changed since then but the more things change the more they remain the same. According to scholar Christopher Snedden, the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Valley's population in 1947. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said it was not the then chief minister Farooq Abdullah, but the then prime minister VP Singh and his home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, that were responsible for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. However, the problems of Kashmiri Pandits have not Dont miss from Explained | How Rohingya issue reached ICJ, what its ruling means for Myanmar, Changing equations in region help Pakistan get relief at FATF meet, Nirupama SubramanianNirupama Subramanian is National Editor (Strategic Affairs). Life and property were not safe, agriculture declined, and there were periods when trade came to a standstill. [54] Ikkjutt Jammu, a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, advocates for two Union Territories in Kashmir, one being Panun Kashmir for Kashmiri Hindus. Sheikh Abdullah had died in 1982, and the leadership of the National Conference passed on to his son Farooq Abdullah, who won the 1983 election. Log in to edit articles at Historical India. Caps were worn, as well as a type of turban referred to as a shirahshata, while footwear consisted of leather shoes and boots, worn with socks. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) stepped up its activities, and the hanging of the militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984 added to the sense of foreboding. Harmukh is traditionally revered by Kashmiri Pandits and in 2009 there was an attempt by them to revive pilgrimages to the site. WebSrinagar: The latest killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in Pulwama district has revived the climate of insecurity and fear in the Valley, and allegations that the Jammu and Kashmir administration has failed to protect the minority Hindu community. [42] The local organisation of pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, said that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency. Raising the issue later during Zero Hour, BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh demanded that the government start a probe into the "large scale atrocities" committed on Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir from 1980 to 1990, especially in the period between 1984 to 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, and culprits be punished. As the BJP continues to promise that Kashmiri Pandits will return, and #HumWapasJayenge trends on social media, Kashmiri Muslims also see the return of Pandits as essential, but reject the idea of their settlement in secured camps as a replication of Israel-like Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Black Day: January 19 is observed as the Holocaust day by the Kashmiri Pandit community. In 2020, Kashmiri became an official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time.. Kashmiri is closely related to Poguli and Kishtwari, which are spoken in the [48] Many Orders, Circulars and recommendations have been issued for relief of Kashmiri Pandits. They have now become refugees in their own country. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. The Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah In agreement with the Central government accepted their demands and freed the jailed terrorists. The Kashmiri Muslim view of the exodus is that he encouraged the Pandits to leave the Valley and thus gave a communal colour to what was until then a non-religious Kashmiri cause. (Or if they're ordered by the regime to create intentional tension/chaos. Bal Thackeray from Maharashtra got seats reserved in engineering colleges for the children of these Pandits. And the Prime Minister has said that the truth is coming out. But that life of tranquility which they remember so fondly doesnt exist anymore in Kashmir. In order to get out of blame, Chief Minister Farookh Abdullah and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed convinced Prime Minister V.P. An estimated 100,000 Kashmiri Pandits have reportedly fled the Valley. Indian forces are specially ordered to keep high surveillance on Kashmir and Kashmiris. Us, Write [27][28], In the 1981 census, the Kashmir Division had 124,078 Hindus, the majority of whom were Pandits. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. They have announced resettlement packages promising financial support and jobs for those who returned. The KPSS has placed the number of Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants from 1990 to 2011 at 399, the majority during 1989-90. "These terrorists played a role in genocide.nation wants to know," he said. As chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhanwatched the film with his cabinet colleagues and the state BJPtop brass at a drive-in theatre in the state capital on Wednesday, Digvijaya tweeted, The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits occurred when Congress was in Opposition. [30] Other authors have suggested a higher figure for the exodus, ranging from the entire population of over 150,000,[31] to 190,000 of a total Pandit population of 200,000,[32] to a number as high as 800,000. Sun hid behind the clouds and the darkness found its way throughout the daylight. The 1989 capitulation to the JKLF in the kidnapping of Mufti Sayeeds daughter set the stage for the next decade. However, Kashmiri political parties and separatist organisations as well as Pandit groups have come out in strong opposition to such Pandit-only settlements. Some 800 families have remained in The Valleys BJP leader Tika Lal Taploo was shot dead on September 13. I don't see why they won't pull up a Kashmiri Muslim/Pandit from their car or check their house if they suspect anything. Tension and killings in various parts of the state are ongoing phenomena. View, About Click here to subscribe for full access. "There has been continuing lack of engagement by the government of India with the community. The truth, many commentators have concluded, may have been somewhere in the middle. 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Some emigrated to other countries entirely. "We cannot go back in the conditions prevailing in Kashmir. Pandits are apprehensive that they will be targeted by Islamists if they return home. Gen. Li Shangfu, with deep ties to Chinas military space enterprises, is widely expected to become Chinas next minister of defense. Lalitaditya's predecessor, Ranaditya, is said to have built the first sun temple. Pandits have generally been in favor of Kashmirs closer integration with India. Most Popular. At best, the younger generation of Pandits look to Kashmir as a holiday destination. [58] and the Anantnag district, where they were 7.84 percent of the population. Just $5 a month. Navreh or the Kashmiri lunar new year is also an important Pandit festival. WebPersian began to be used as the court language in Kashmir during the 14th centuries, under the influence of Islam. The longing to return to the Valley did not diminish over the years, though it may have become more an idea than a real ambition. 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. An Indian paramilitary soldier takes a selfie as Kashmiri Hindu devotees known as pandits offer prayers during the annual festival at the Kheer Bhawani temple in Tul Mul, outskirts of Srinagar, India, June 20, 2018. Most of the Kashmiris fled during late hours, under the cover of the night. The day marks the beginning of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits on a mass scale that ultimately culminated in the complete exodus of the aboriginal indigenous people that represented a civilisation that was more than 5,000 years old. Tens of thousands of Kashmiris and Indian security personnel have lost their lives in the violence that engulfed the region. 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