SEARCHING FOR PEACE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR

There was a news item recently in the daily DNA Banglore edition reading that the J&K interlocutors (appointed by the Govt.of India to find avenues for peace in j&k)

Have made a recommendation to create separate legislatures for the three regions of Kashmir,jammu, and ladakh with administrative authority and a federal assembly for the state with equal number of representatives from each region and the Chief minister’s post by rotation from each region.

It would tantamount to trifurcate the state on communal lines which would not bode well for the secular fabric of the country.

Expectedly it would be opposed by those who lose their dominant status in the polity of the state.

PEACE AND RECONCILLATION IN KASHMIR

  PEACE  and RECOCILLATION IN KASHMIR

 Setting up a peace and reconcillation commision( a la the Truth and Reconcillation) for jammu and kashmir as proposed by UMAR  ABDULLAH, cief minister would,if followed up in earnestly to its conclusion,create hope &;vision of peace after nearly a quarter century. It may even sound utopian in veiw of different agendas for disparate  actors in the state’s political landscape.The main thrust behind the idea is to search for peace in the disturbed valley &other militancy affected areas of jammu region. Home grown militant groups like JKLF,HIZB_UL_MUJAHIDEEN(& other splinter minor groups),aided,abetted& supported by their controllers across the border who provide the training &; financial infrastructure.Pakistani groups like lashkar I toiba,  jaish I mohmad and the like, are also active alledgedly in  collusion with al qaida.The process of indoctrination of muslim youth which started since  early 80’s has taken firm roots in these areas,making them easily  accessible to exploitation for becoming cannon fodder for the vested interests  whose only motive is to keep the couldron in kashmir  burning  to serve their ends. The first bottleneck to peace in the valley is the fundamentalistic  terror  inflow  from across the border & its ramifications on the psyche of the youth. These deluded youth are trained in training camps across the borders for guerilla warfare with   unlimited  supply of guns, ammunition and  explosives . Unless & until this continuous  supply line of terrorists and terror to the valley is completely stamped to silence the guns, there shall be no permanent peace in the state.

 The overground polity has given the sloganof azadi which,however,is interpreted differently by different people at different places. For the jihadists, it means nizam I mustaffa . The terror in kashmir had started for the same end so that any semblance of  kashmiri pandit identity & culture is eliminated.

The number of pandits killed in the valley till oct. 1990 as per report of PKM to N.H.R.C. is 391. Late SHRI B.N.BHAN ‘NISSAR’,  compiled a list of 765 casualities .Some non government organisation

Put the figure at 1880,with; the total including other hindus &sikhs as 2550. It was the killings accompanied with rapine that made pandits to migrate enmasse from the valley to face penury,misery & an uncertain future to save their life,honour & faith reducing their numbers from 4% of the population  in 1981 to 0.1% in 1991. It is true that only a handful of terrorists were responsible for this but the majority remained in the mode of quiet acquisence.There has not been a single protest in the valley against the forced flight of kashmiri pandits.

It is fact of history that exodus of more than 3,00,000 pandits from the valley is the direct result of fudamentalic terror with object of ethinic cleansing of the valley. The first item on the agenda for reconcillation  has ,thus, to openly accept this truth & find a solution which is compatible with  the ground reallities .  Pandits being a fully literate community have enough sense to judge where their future lies.More than 20 years have elapsed since that catastrophie,and a new generatin has sprung up who are not aware of life in the valley.Most of them have made a niche for themselves in jammu region,&/or elsewhere in INDIA and abroad .Any wilful transplantation back is unlikely.Circumstances have forced them to be citizens of the world. Even the central and state govts. have indirectly conceded this by constructing more than six thousand  tenements at Bhagti near Jammu .They have thus already made their choice to reconstruct their disrupted lives at places where they got shelter during those horrendous chaotic months of 90 ’s. Peace and reconcillation would be meaningful to the pandits only  if they and their future generations can lead a life of dignity,honour ,security of faith,life and property with protected avenues of making a living. Gun culture being alien to their nature and upbringing, they will not willingly put themselves into such a spot again . The loss of their community values,culture,language,and presence may not survive in veiw of their dispersal into miniscule groups spread over the globe, though the younger generation are sincerely networking  in resurrecting their cultural base and roots. Barring the means to recover their property, agricultural lands, and orchards , they  will find some inbuilt  system within the community to preserve their roots,culture ,honour and faith. Their sudden  and unorganised flight from the valley of terror  under all odds in 1990 exhibits their genius of  preservation of honour and faith without thinking of their home,hearth and lands and orchards, and face an uncertain future full of privations,hardship ,with alarming consequences to health,upbringing,and educatin of their growing generation of those horror filled days. The govt. should acknowledge the cause of exodus truthfully.

The valley  has been on the boil since1989 when militancy assumed alarming proportions .There was no law and order worth the name . The situation became so grave that both the governor and the C.M. resigned and left the valley in early 1990. The adminstrative vacuum was filled only after JAG MOHAN was posted as the new governor putting the state under governor’s rule. Those were the reasons why the state was ultimately  declared a diturbed area and the footprints of army , BSF,CRP,and local police got thickened shrinking the free movements of civilians without searches and checks. Even at present the apparatus of terror is well organised and structured duly supported by infrastuctural supply line from across the border ,and continues to be active through their covert gun wielding  guerrila fighters and overt sympathisers .In2005,an indian estimate of militants active  in the valley was 2000 out of which1200 were from hizb ul mujahideen.  Proper weightage has to be given to this reallity while searching for peace. The continuing militancy has resulted in 47000 deaths till2009and 491 persons missing in police custody (JK ASSEMBLY proceedings) .The no . of  persons who are missing after police interrogation as listed  by local Association of parents of missing persons is being put at 9000 till 2009.

 The main cities and towns in the disturbed areas for a first time visitor look like garrisons of security  forces and India is getting adverse press internationally as well as a low human rights rating ,enabling all who are no friends to beat India with the’ kashmir dispute’ stick.The state and central govt.s are walking a tight rope to be able to withdraw the army and other central forces from the civilian areas. If that could be done ,the public resentment in the valley against the army and other central forces shall eventually  vanish.They will cease to be looked as an occupying force.

To facilitate this, terror fighting units should comprise only the jk police personnel with liason only for training with the army and other central security forces.

Peace and Reconcillation for different regions will have separate connotations.

In the valley peace would settle only if they get azadi,which has different meanings for different mainstream parties.The common strand running throgh all these is the dilution of governing role of the central govt. by a throwback to pre1953 position. The bills of resettlement, autonomy, or self rule point to the same end. In this conundrum ,the ghost of  plebicite  is another tool  for expediency used by vested interests when it suits them. .For Gillani  and his ilk peace would dawn only after joining pakistan.

It is a fact that the youth of the valley are finding life difficult in veiw of the restrictions imposed on them even with routine security checks due to the disturbed conditions. They are pining for a life free of such hassles  and getting easily  excited when led to believe that only an agitation shall rid them of the impositions and restrictions .The resultat loss of life aggravates the hurt and hate further.  They believe  that the indian  army and police are an occupation force.They have their hopes,dreams and vision of kashmir. The aspirations and hopes of the present generation of the valley need to be addressed to  early to disable them  to get restive and aggressive. It is the prime need of the hour.

Jammu has become a home to all the people who were uprooted by partition and annexations by pakistan in 1947 from adjascent areas in west panjab,muzafarabad,mirpur,kotli,bhimber etc have since settled in jammu.Another wave of migrants followed in 1965 war with pakistan when they were allowedto annex part of area across  the munawar tawi river.The irony for the migrants from pakistan is that they have no state subject rights in the state.

Another wave of more than 300000 kashmiri pandits arrived in jammu region in the first stage of their flight.some  went to other parts of the country ,some abroad,but majority stayed in jammu.

In the recent past,some hindus from higher reaches in chenab basin in ramban area also migrated to camps in jammu to escape terror.

Jammu region wants unconditional accession with union of india.regional aspiration of a separate assembly has gained ground due to various  factors especialy to move away from the dominance of the valley.

The ladakh region comprisng Budhist ladakh district and Shia muslim kargil district want to shed the kashmiri domination and aspire to have a union territory status. Recocillation  thus has  different formats for the three regions of the state.

The P.M. has taken an initiative recently and sent  apolitical interlocutors to the state.Having met almost  all groups in the three regions, they have submitted a final report to the centre which has not been made public so far. Their conclusions and the  action being taken by the govt. shall be keenly awaited.Ground realities have to be taken into account and decisions have to satisfy one and all,even if some administrative restructuring may be necessary. The interlocutors have had so many meetings with representatives of all shades of opinion ln kashmir,jammu and ladakh but their final report and recommendations are still privy only with the govt..

All these factors  have to be reconciled to find durable peace in the region .Every stakeholder in the state needs to get a fair deal,half way measures may even worsen the present scenario.

THE TRUE STORY 12

ACTION REQUIRED BY THE THE PANDITS TO PRESERVE THEIR IDENTITY
        The foremost need is to have an obsessive sentiment for their mother tongue and a purposeful effort at home to speak in Kashmiri so that the new generations pick it up from the cradle,along with English or vernaculars whose usage is so prevalent in these times that it eclipses the mother tongue. Frequent visits to community gatherings on festivals and assemblies and occasional seminars for introducing the young ones to  history and geography of the valley, culture ,ethos,traditions,and scriptures for acquiring a proper mix of  temporal and secular training as a society to preserve their moral fibre. As has been the case in all previous  post exodus situations since 14th century only a smaller number returned to the valley when they could. The history will repeat itself now. It should be
 recognised  that only a minor part of pandits who had fled the valley in 1990s will be willingly susceptile to resettle in the valley
which has been sample surveyed to be only about 30000 persons .The population of pandits in the valley even with the govt sponsored efforts may touch a figure of 37000 after all the effort.   
    For more than 250000 pandits, who have since made their home elsewhere, the state should make it mandatory under law that they and their future generations retain the state  subject rights without any limitations,  subject to production of authentic evidence of having  been  a resident of the state up to 1990s   so that they are free to return to the valley in  future when they ever plan to do so. Who would not pine to go back to their roots?

THE TRUE STORY 11

A PEEP INTO FUTURE
It is to the credit of pandits that they did not relate to arms and create an unsocial mess as a reaction  to having been brutally chased out of their mother land leaving their home and hearth to an unknown future.Having to live in completely new environment and without any resource except grit,determination to survive and their talent,ability, and education,they tried to maintain their sanity and equanimity to confront the great odds against their very existence and to concentrate on on building their next generation to enable them to compete in the wide world. That the genius of the pandits not only enabled them to survive but also to thrive and shine even when the going was tough is the story of the post_migration period. A new generation  of technocrats, professionals (in all disciplines),scientists,etc. have thus sprung in the community,spread far and wide within and outside the country making waves wherever they are due to their dedication,earnestness,hard work and brilliance which is ingrained in their genes. 
The younger generation has thus spread worldwide and made a niche for themselves and their own.The dispersal of the community in different corners of the globe in minscule groups will distance them from their home base,their native tongue ,culture and traditions inspite of efforts being made to sponsor  periodic community meetings so as to acquaint the younger generation  with their identity and culture. But with the passage of time it is bound to get diluted from generation to generation and ultimately submerged in the local cultures wherever they have settled. marriages outside the community coupled with gradual  extinction  of their mother tongue is bound to accelerate the process. The thinkers in the community are acutely aware of this eventuality in 
such groups who are thinly distributed over large areas or spaces.
The efforts made to forestall such an eventuality as carried out at Jammu,Delhi,Kolkatta,Banglore ,Mumbai, Jaipur are being made in all earnest by formation of pandit sabhas and celebrating festivals  and sponsoring conferences for awareness compaigns. Jammu is leading in this in view of sizeable population of pandits and thus duplicaing the valley for them in their living ethos and is perhaps the only place where the pandits will retain their culture and tradition in future with ease. A number of new localities have sprung up with predominantly with pandit dwellings who have settled here after their exodus from the valley.they have since duplicated their very frequented places of worship in the valley in Jammu. But  persisting with speaking or spoken to in   Kashmiri at home is not in vogue in the post exodus breed going to lead to loss of their  mother tongue, kashmiri .
The steps being taken by the thinkers of the community to write books on kashmir shaivism,sharda script,various religious festivals of pandits ,their shrines, rituals ,symbols and taditions will be a treasure of knowledge for the coming generations wherever they are.It will ,as a collection, be an identity bank and language preserve . The need of the hour is to update the census of the community and collate the efforts already made in various cities and towns worldwide at one place to form a data bank centrally which is easily accessible online. The pandit way of life will unfortunately get gradually lost. The pandit symbols like DEJHORU( pandit mangal sutra) help even strangers idetify their mutal community kinship.
GOVT.'S EFFORTS TO RESETTLE PANDITS IN THE VALLEY
The state govt. has  built (under the P.M.'s package) some tenements at different places in the valley for settling the returnees.This will result in ghottoisation of community in minscules.The state adminstration has to ensure the willing support and cooperation of the majority,such a move may not be fruitful. A better idea would be to resettle those who shall return at a single  place to make their security easier.
The govt.must give them a political voice by reserving  a seat in the assembly for them and grant them minority rights as a community.
     The state govt's present arrangements are scheduled rightly for
 resettlement of only a part of the community who have not been able to resettle on their own elsewhere all these years. As per sample survey refered earlier, we could expect only about 10% of the oustees  to return to the valley, AND MORE  THAN 75% OF KASHMIRI PANDITS WHO HAD TO LEAVE IN 1990S WILL  LOSE THEIR LINKS TO THE VALLEY WITH PASSAGE OF TIME .     


     

THE TRUE STORY 10.

STATE GOVT.'S RELIEF MEASURES.
After the initial thrust was taken care of by private organisations, the govt. took over the relief measures in an organised manner. It asked for applications from the oustees from the valley to get registered for relief from the Govt.52,689 families got registered (roughly 2.00 to 2.50 lac persons) with state wise breakup as under 1.J andK     JAMMU REGION  31490 families
2.DELHI 19339
3.HARYANA   523
4.CHANDIGARH 206
5.PANJAB 100
6.UTTAR PRADESH 500
7.MADHYA PRADESH 40
8.KARNATAKA 60
9.GOA 140.
10.KERALA 5
11.MAHARASHTRA 124
12.RAJASTHAN 47
  Out of these ,48496 families were Hindu ,2303 were Muslim , 1830 were Sikhs , and others70.
The number who stayed in the valley number 7527 spread in all districts but more concentrated in Srinagar and Annantnag districts
(Statistics extract from Divisional comissioner kashmir's report "Action plan for return of Kashmiri migrant"(The impression from these figures would not be realistic till we know that pandit families in the list and others  not listed but left the valley in the 90s were 97% of the community, the muslims who left were an isignificant part of their population in the valley)
This list is only for such people who got registered as migrants.But many who could not get to register in the specified period for one reason or other could not get any relief.There were many who owned houses in Jammu an elsewhere did not register having obviously no claims for relief but their claims for loss and damage of property in the valley  was mostly ignored. Many had to find rented accomodation ( with severe strain on their meagre resources) due to shortage of accomodation in the camps.Many stayed with relatives till they could find/afford any alternative accomodation in Jammu or in  some other city of the country and abroad, to build a new  niche for themselves to get resettled  thus rebuildig their careers and excellence in education of their children.
The state govt. recognises only about about 2.00 lac registered pandits as having migrated in the 90s.not counting the sizable number estimated as more than a lac souls who have spread worldwide, and built a nest for self and brood.It is inconceivable to imagine that these self _settled persons shall ever return as residents to an uncertain future in the valley having already lost any possible link with their old home and land.

WHO AMONG THE MIGRANTS MAY RETURN TO THE VALLEY?
 The fact remains that those who have since built their own houses 
and rebuilt their careers shall not,of their free will , return to the valley . On the basis of sample survey conducted by 'J  and K centre for minority studies' for registered migrants, only about 1/4th of the camp and non camp dwellers  have not been able till 2006 to re_ establish their lives and find some steady means of sustenance on their own. A rough estimate of such people works out to 40,000  by 2006 figures which may have reduced now to date. We can safely contemplate that they may return to the valley when offered a sound package for living and SECURITY .Even though the govt.has started building some tenements in the valley at some places for return of pandits  but the return looks remote unless there is is a surge of voluntarily evolved spontaneous response and willingness of the majority population to make them feel wanted and resist any attempts to orally or physically hound them . Any fresh incidents against them would trigger another exodus.No amount of security alone shall be able to make their stay possible. 
GRADUAL ATTRITION OF PANDIT POPULATION
The pandits comprised about 8% of population of the valley in 1947 . Since they could not get adequate jobs in view of proportional selections,they had to find jobs elsewhere in India and abroad resulting in reduction of their resident population.But they still maintained their roots with the valley.The pandits reduced nuemerically to 4% in 1981 due to gradual migration in search of a living and to 0.1% in 1991 due to terror of  the extremists combined with silent acceptance of the majority and lack of state security.
EFFECTS ON THE PANDITS IMMEDIATELY AFTER EXODUS
 The Pandits , as is so well known, have been living in Kashmir valley for generations. The place is famous for its scenic beauty , magnificient mountains ,sweet water lakes like Dal,Manasbal,Wular    
in the valley floor,high level lakes like Gangabal,Kounsar nag, etc.on the mountains, springs on its table lands (plateaus) around the base of the valley ,The world famous tourist spots  like Gulmarg,Pahalgam,Sonamarg ,mughal gardens are a sight for sore eyes. There is hardly any rural village in the valley bowl without a stream or a brook through the village.Many glaciers on the high ranges with perpetual snows is a grand sight on a full moon giving  an ethereal feeling to any  onlooker. Kashmir safron, apple,peach,pear ,almonds,walnuts etc. are in great demand in India and abroad. The famous chinar tree is an attraction of the valley. The summers are mild with the max. temp.ranging to low thirtees and tourists throng the scenic valley to escape the torrid summer of the plains.Adventure lovers flock to kashmir for trekking, hiking,mountaineering,and winter sports.
 That persian poet who came to kashmir with Mughal carvan pithily 
exclaimed:Ghar az jahan asto bihisht ast   Hamin asto hamin asto hamin ast. (If there is any heaven on earth,it is this,this ,only this)     
     The pandits were living in this place for centuries well fed,well stocked and following their daily persuits without any offence  to one and all.No kashmiri is homeless and everyone has enough private space to live with dignity and there are hardly any deaths due to cold.
It was from such an idyll situation,they were suddenly catapaulted into a sandy,dusty  country side shelterless,penniless and without any means of sustenance having lost their all without their guilt/fault in full view of the state apparatus. They had to face the dry cold of winter and torrid summer in such conditions.Since they are politically a non entity, their expulsion did not make any ripples with the so called human rights groups or the fourth estate.
The state put up tented acomodation for those who had occupied govt.space for their stay,gradually making temporary one room tenements in the camps which they set up in jammu region and delhi.the registered migrants were given cash and ration relief on monthly basis.It was considered a temporary measure which turned out in reality a lasting one for two generations. More permanent accomodation has been built at Jagti in jammu region and being allotted to the camp dwellers only and such people who have fended after migration on their own  are not understandably state's  liability!
The loss of their home and hearth was a shock to all 
generations and scarred their physical,psychological, mental and social health during that traumatic period.Diseases like depression, loss of memory , loss of vitality due to malnutrition, slowed metabolism and easy prey to respiratory, heart ailments,hyper tension,reduced fertility among  the younger generation . Living in sketchy shelters  with very limited access to adequate education facilities,water supply,and sanitation the migrants were at mercy of   the vagaries of weather, and  open access
to mosquitoes,insects and various field pests ,rodents,and poisonous snakes, life became  a nightmare.During their early years as camp dwellers , the mortality rate in the  community was
unusually high.
By the passage of time they steeled themselves to rearrange their 
life and landed on various private jobs in jammu and elsewhere in india, to educate their younger generation inspite of all the odds against them. The govt.s of many states in India kept a quota of seats for the migrants and helping them by lowering the entry point for eligibility. Though pandits lost their all in 1990s , their children prospered in wider horizon beyond the valley and have settled on  jobs in almost all disciplines and professions within and outside the country, making a name for themselves.The effects of trauma of the holocast of 1990,privations suffered ,sacrificed made by them, has certainly softened with the progress made by their younger generation.The generation  who were adults before 1990 do have nostalgia for their life in the valley .
  
     

TRUE STORY 9

FACING THE EMERGENCY
The moment the details about the exodus reached Jammu, the various social organisations of Jammu formed an umbrella committee under the name of Kashmir Sahayta committee to organise a relief mission with nodal office in Gita Bhavan for listing and receiving  the tide of  arrivals and alloting them some space for their immediate stay   .All the vacant space available in ashrams,community halls of different sabhas , various religious  institutions were freely made available by the concerned for this privately arranged  relief mission. The nodal place for receiving the arrivals(and organising their board and lodge wherever available in liason with the district authorities)was at Gita Bhavan. Donation of public poured in cash,grain and essentials for daily use which were kept on stock at the place for distribution to the needy.Free langars were put up in gurdwaras,temples and different ashrams for feeding these people who had lost their all.The future generations of pandits should know that that at this critical juncture of the community ,Jammu people's fast organised support saved the first wave of the emigres at the start of exodus in January 90.It took some time for the Govt.machinery to operate purposefully by providing tentages;setting up migrant camps at different places in Jammu and Udhampur and Delhi.Even with such spontanity and speed in organisation worked out by the committee , there were still some few unfortunate families who spent their first night stay after exodus in the open in that biting cold  on the roadside.
 Any help given by the Govt. was restricted to only those pandits who could complete the formalities of registration as migrants within a specified date leaving at least 50% of oustees to live on their own without any assistance from the Govt.and had to live on rented rooms even when it was a big hole in their meagre resources.Only a minute fraction of the oustees had their houses or lived till their own arrangements could be possible with relatives who had shifted to jammu earlier to settle there. As an estimate based on later surveys, only half the oustees( I am not using the word 'Migrant' because the community had been terrorised and thus forced to migrate,and not by choice) were in registered 'migrants' file and the other half spread to places where they could find a place to eke out a living in India and abroad. These pandits may be emotionally allied and tuned to their community in their old generation and but will ultimately get dissolved in mainstream at their present place of living and lose their linguistic and ethnic and cultural roots as generations succeed generations. Thus in official records ,the number of migrants is much lower than the actual and in the process the official count of pandits is much less than the number which left the valley.It is indicated by the recent survey by the govt. agencies of the immovable damaged and pillaged property of the pandits left by them at  their flight.By a reasonable conversion to number of persons who had lived in these houses , the  people who had to flee was much larger than those registered as migrants.

THE TRUE STORY 8

THE EXODUS
The hapless kashmiri pandits were left with no option but to flee the valley as any resistance by an unarmed infinitesimal minority against armed brute majority was just inconcievable without even any pretence of state protection. They had no option but to leave to save themselves from complete annahilation and extinction.History of kashmir after the 14th century during the muslim rulers is filled with such episodes faced by pandits when they had to leave the valley earlier not less than six times with gradual depletion of their population.
From 20th JAN.onwards,the pandits left the valley in panic and concern of their life,honour and faith to escape from the threatening terror without any prearranged faciliities individually and without inviting the attention of their neighbours to evade capture.On hindsight, it is visible enough now that none of them was harmed physically during their flight . they were  confronted with jeers and cat calls enroute in the muslim dominated areas. herein lies the suspicion of the mind fixed plan for ' YA RALIV,YA GHALIV, YA CHALIV' (already translated earier) This must be the only exceptional exodus when there has not been a single inflicted casualty enroute in a hostile area. The pandits left by any transport they could get in the first tide of the exodus.The later batches left in a more organised manner.

THE TRUE STORY 7

 The holaucast JANUARY 1990
The plan of the undergroud  militants was now to put their plans to action packed mode.Notices were pasted a tprominent places for 'kafirs' to leave the valley and face the conseqences. Jailed terrorists were got released for those were abducted by them (who would be connected to V.I.P.s.)KASHMIR LIBERATION FRONT and local wing of JAMAT _I_MUJAHIDIN were  in the forefront with infastucture and command from across the border.Overt attacks on the security forces started with a grenade attack the then senior suprintendent of police Mr.Wattali's residence.The law & order situation became so precarious that the Governor,Lt.General (Retd.)K.V.KrishnaRao resigned on 15th January 1990 and the Chief Minister Dr.Farooq Abdullah resigned on 18th january 1990.
The traffic between Jammu and Srinagar was not secure and the V.I.P.s were airlifted to safe places outside the valley. There was no state authority functioning during this period. In the other Muslim dominated areas like Poonch and Rajouri,the writ of the state the state was limited to the urban and its adjascent areas only.This left the valley entirely at the mercy of the militants. The only agency that could control the tide was the Army , but it could not act on its own.The time was ripe for the militant leadership to plan a mass upsurge and fruitition of their mission. 
The sequence of events of these days are documented by many but the most authentic and reliable reporting  on the outpourings  of affected eye witnesses is from the people who organised the immediate shelter to the incoming  tide of the displaced at jammu and udhampur.An extract from the files (documenting the eyewitness account of events ) of The kashmiri sahayta committee is reproduced here:
Messages conveyed from mouth to mouth through the entire length and breadth of the valley that the D DAY was fixed on 19th        January 1990.  The masses in the cities,towns and villages on 19th  Jan.1990 11.00pm in the night were out in the streets.Loud speakers were switched on at prominent places including religious places blaring slogans against Hindus in general and Pandits in particular.Some of the slogans were:
1.Hum kya chahate hain_Azadi (what do we want_ Liberty)
2.Azadi k kya mainey _Nizami mustafa  (liberty means rule of islam)
3.Asi gachi asun Pakistan,batav ros te batinav saan(translated  from kashmiri: We want pakistan,without pandit men ,but with pandit women.)
4.Kafiro,lutero, kashmir khali karo(infidels,vandals vacate kashmir)
5.Battav ya raliv,ya chaliv, nati galliv( pandits either merge,or flee or face extinction) Incidentally it has been a war cry against pandits  right from 14th century Shah Mir's time.
People were asked to collect on 20th Jan. in the forenoon near Ali Masjid in downtown Srinagar and there was multitude mass of people zeroing on to the venue.It was later rumoured that a sort of Tajposhi(coronation) of miltant leaders from across was enacted with a volley of firing from the central core group of the crowd.(end of extract)
 This initiated the recogition of militancy in kashmir as  a way of life with  inevitable influence on the psyche of the younger generations of kashmir.These events left the pandits in a precarious position leaving them no choice but to flee as they had no means to protect their faith ,honour of their womenfolk ,and their home and hearth .The central and state govt.s were vascilating. This started the sudden mass exodus of kashmiri pandits in 1990.  

THE TRUE STORY 6

The Gale
 As a prelude to future, a rehearsal of events to come was enacted on
the  Hindus of village Wanpoh of Annantnag in Feb. 1986,by lootig their houses and their property,vandalising their temples and manhandling them. Meantime the recruitment of youth by inducement,allurement or jehadi setiments for sending them across the border for terrorist training continued unabated.If there was any resistance or dissent,it was summarily snuffed out to create a fear psychosis.The mission was to create NIZAM_I_MUSTAFA and eliminate kufur exhibited by the infidels ( kashmir pandits . Sikhs were not touched as otherwise pakistan could not support and sponsor sikh militancy in India)
By the middle of 1989, the fundamentalist infrastructure was complete and the next step of operation started.In July 1989 a bomb was hurled into a restaurant in Annantnag, owned by a pandit . The next step was to eliminate Pandit  leaders,intellectuals,writers,prominent lawyers,central govt .employees and opinion makers of the community ruthlessly in a systamatic manner to create a fear psychosis in them.The body of NILKANTH GANJOO senior judge killed in broad daylight in Harisingh high street ,Srinagar in full view of the people and was left by the bystanders as if he was a pariah.The same was the fate of TIKALAL TAPLOO ,a lawyer anda leader of B.J.P.in his own locality,of many others in all parts of the valley.No less than about 700 pandits,both men and women were killed deliberately by shooting,maiming and butchering ,disecting,torturing and bled to death or any perversion after sexual assault. It is a long list of inhuman torture and cruelty and trauma inflicted on the hapless community.
The news reached the rural areas and gripped by fear of the life and honour of their womenfolk and children ,started moving them individually towards the towns leaving behind their property, livestock,land and orchards ,and the males staying back. 

THE TRUE STORY 5.

THE BEGINNINGS OF DISQUIET
The seeds of communal feelings  were sown by MUSLIM CONFERENCE but it was kept under check by the personal interest and agenda of of the leaders of other groups.From 1965,however, a wave of fundamentalism created by Jamait Islami which spread out to urban and rural areas enveloping the entire valley. Madrassas and religious places were used by  jehadi  idealogues both as sanctuaries and indoctrination of young impressionable minds.The wave of Wahabi doctrine heavily enchroached on the Kashmiri Sufi traditions
in almost all the layers of the society ,gradually  gaining dominance in  

the younger generation abetted,aided and funded by the the extremist elements from across the borders, both from the civil and the military under a proper plan to create mayhem,disorder and subsequently a jehadi culture within the valley and destroy the age old sufi culture.
  The next step step towards armed resistance was taken in early 80's by recruiting indoctrinated local youth and sending them across the porous cease fire line, for arms,combat and saboteur training in camps openly organised by and in pak held kashmir,in wazirstan and even vicinity of lahore even though their existence has always been refuted by the authorities there.Conduits for flow of arms and ammunitions into hiding places in the valley and the '"caderisation"of militant stucture was put in place.The organisation and strategy was completed by the middle of 1989. 

TRUE STORY 4..

4.Gathering clouds
From 1947,the main agenda with pakistan was to annex the kashmir valley and other muslim dominated areas like doda,rajouri ,and other such adjascent areas.They tried it by force in 1947(tribal raid assisted  by pakistan regulars),in 1965(a war) and 1971(yet another war),but were repulsed every time.It was in the context of being defenceless in oct.1947 ,that kashmiri muslims under the leadership of sheikh abdullah agreed to facilitate the maharaja to accede to india.(what is not generally known that abdullah was convinced of better dealings with india after his earlier unofficial negotiating team of sadiq etc failed to get any concessions from pakistan's jinnah for acceding to Pakistan).As an aside after the signing of the instrument of accession between the union of india and the maharaja without any exceptions (as was done by all other states),india agreed to(though without any legal validity as a hold to the deed of accession) to a separate constitution ,governor,and prime minister and incorporated  Art.370 in the constitution of india.
In the meantime ,India filed a complaint in the United Nations in 1948 ,  blaming Pakistan as the agressor,little imagining machinations of the western countries and the Muslim world who equated the agressor and the victim.The speech of Zulfikar Bhutoo was not enough to rouse the Indian state.In 1971 after the war, there were 90000 Pakistani P.O.W.s in the Indian camps. India was in a vantage position to force a bargain deal. All they could manage was signing the Shimla Accord, which was invariably flouted by Pakistan.

THE TRUE STORY 3.

THE WATERSHED YEAR OF 1931
The relations between the local majority and minority in kashmir were cordial till 1931.It was in that year that MUSLIM CONFERENCE(M.C.)was started jointly by SHEIKH ABDULLAH and MIRWAIZ YUSUF SHAH) on a sectarian agenda and an agitation against the maharaja was sponsored by the party.When the ruler (through the aegis of N,GOPALASWAMY IYENGAR ,prime minister)tried to control the situation,the muslim mobs selectively vandalised and looted the hindu shops and business interests in the down town Srinagar in the  areaswhich are the centre of influence of present chief of HURRIAT,  MIRWAIZ  UMAR FAROOQ.
 Sheikh abdullah separated from M.C. in a bid for power and started the NATIONAL CONFERENCE(N.C.)in 1939., which became the vanguard for civil resistance against the Dogra rule. In 1946 ,the sheikh gave a call for an agitation againist the dogra ruler ,thus starting the'QUIT KASHMIR MOVEMENT' which became a very popular slogan with the masses catpaulting him to be the only leader of kashmir. 
In the intervening years , the muslim youth were rightly encouraged to get educated to compete for govt. jobs with the pandits ,a community which was 100% literate. From 1947,the Pandits had  to effectively and rightly make way for educated majority candidates and seek employment outside the state. The families got split due to this necessity resulting in gradual reduction of Pandit  population from more than 8%in 1947 to 4% in 1981(figures rounded & based on census),But the Pandits who left the valley upto 1989 maitained their roots in the valley and would always return to renew thier bonds with kith and kin and friends. But all this changed in 1990, when they were forced out of the valley due to terrorism fed on majority fanaticism and they left in a mass exodus to save their faith and honour .By 1991,their population in the valley was reduced to  was reduced to less than 0.1%. 

TRUE STORY 2

2. pandits in mid 20th  century.                                                     Pandit community retained its culture,traditions,folklore,devotional music,religiosity even in its worst times. Being pacific by nature is perhaps the main source of strength which helped them to survive till now even against heavy odds.Being highly literate  ,they were in demand  as babus and were mostly employed in Govt. or private service. They mostly lived in Srinagar and other towns of the valley .
 Only those who owned land holdings for agriculture and orchards lived in rural  areas and were completely dependent on the goodwill and cooperation of the majority for their existence. 

A FORGOTTEN COMMUNITY

I think it is time that the world wakes up now to address the problems of about 0.30
million kashmiri hindus who had to flee their homeland .Perhaps it is unaware, my
blogs will try to rememorise it for the world to know.

the true story of exodus of kashmiri pandits 1

  1.IDENTITY                                                                                                        The earliest recorded history of kashmir valley and its people can be
 traced to NILMAT PURAN and is exhaustive in its detail and the brahmins were the kashmiri pandits.The first real attempt has been Kalhan pandit'sRAJ TARANGNI written in 11th century  which covers the nilmat era to 1061 AD and the entire period to the present has been covered by different authors both local and non local in the language in vogue in that period i,e.sanskrit,persian,and english.It is a proven fact that kashmiri hindus had been residing in the valley since ages,though in course of various muslim invasions from 14th century onwards, most of the pandits were forcibly converted to islam and those who resisted fled to  distant areas to Chenab valley of jammu and some to indian cities away south from the valley.When the situation improved slightly, some of them returned . The descendants of these returnees  are the present kasmiri speaking kashmiri pandits

starting afresh

Some years back , I had started ' THE TRUE STORY' of KASHMIRI PANDITS'S exodus from the valley in 1990 years back and shall publish it now on this website beginning shortly. thanks to google .