CHAPTER III
UNTOLD STORY OF KASHMIRI PANDITS
APPEASEMENT OF KASHMIRI MUSLIMS
“In political
manifestos, speeches, and slogans, Hindu nationalist parties highlighted the
plight of the Kashmiri Hindu migrant community, arguing that secular political
leaders had implemented policies to appease Kashmiri Muslims for decades in
order to demonstrate their commitment to the principles of secular nationalism,
but had failed to provide adequate protection to the minority Kashmiri Hindu
community simply because they shared the religious affiliation of the Indian
majority. In this way, Hindu nationalist rhetoric presented the anxieties of
the Kashmiri Hindu migrant community as a mirror of the anxieties of the Indian
middle classes, who felt themselves vulnerable to increasing mobilization among
minority and impoverished classes.” (Haley
Duschinski, Ohio University, Athens)
“The Muslims in Kashmir are the ruling elite of
the state. They dominate its entire economic organization and enjoy communal
precedence in all social forums. Islam is virtually the official religion of
the state. Whereas the Muslims constitute a little more than half the
population of the State, they possess three-fourths share in legislative
bodies, administrative organizations and all the local Government Institutions.
In the Kashmir province, the Hindus have no elected representation In the State
Legislature, nor do they have any elected representation in the local bodies.
They constitute less than five per cent of the administrative services of the
State and have less than one percent share in the higher cadres of the state
administration. Muslims monopolize 94 per cent of the state services In
Kashmir. The Hindus of Kashmir province have absolutely no share in the
decision making clusters of the state Government, which have always been
constituted by the Muslims of the Kashmir Province.”
(Human
Rights Violations in Kashmir, by Dr. M.K.Teng & C.L.Gadoo)
Kashmiri Pandits demonstrating against Human
Rights Violations
INDIAN EXPRESS JANUARY 1,
1992, REPORTS]]
CONFERENCE
OF KASHMIRI PANDIT ASSOCIATIONS
In February 1992, Kashmiri Samiti
Delhi hosted a two-day meeting of the Executive Committee of the AIKS,
including representatives of its affiliated units, at the Kashmir Bhawan in
order to evaluate the situation facing the community and develop a consensus on
the future course of action. Chaman Lal Gadoo, President of Kashmiri Samiti
Delhi, opened the meeting with an address entitled “KPs at the Crossroads of
History”….. “There is an urgent need,” he said, “more than ever it was, for the
community to evolve a plan of action for the future rehabilitation and return
of our people to our motherland”. He continued by outlining the Kashmiri Hindu
community’s right to their motherland: “I want to make one thing very clear.
The Kashmiri Pandits will not renounce the right to their motherland. Kashmir
belongs to us. Kashmir is our history, Kashmir is our home, Kashmir is our
tradition. Our temples are in Kashmir and our entire past is associated with
its soil. We will not allow to be dispossessed and our culture to be destroyed.”
He also directed the AIKS Executive Committee to to consider the resolution
demanding a homeland as proposed by Panun Kashmir at Jammu. (Gadoo 1992:8)
(International Journal of Hindu Studies by Haley Duschinski, Assistant
Professor of Anthropology at Ohio University, Athens)
Koshur Samachar
, Feb. 1992 reports
HINDU TEMPLES
“The establishment of the supremacy of
Islam in India is a part of the history of India. The commitment of the Muslims
to fight idolatry found expression in the destruction of the Hindu temples, the
centers of idol worship in India. “The Hindu temples are the abode of God. They
are not prayer houses”. In the Hindu temples Param Parmeshwar is worshipped in the iconic forms, he assumed with
the evolution of the Sanskrit civilization of India, as the manifestation of
the unity of the universal existence and the embodiment of the creation. The
rise of the Muslim power in India set in motion, sociological conflict. The
Muslim struggle to efface the religious culture of the Hindu India formed a
part of that conflict. The Mughal conqueror Babar, informed of the destruction
of Ayodhya, exclaimed in ecstasy, “For Islam’s sake, I wandered in the wilds,
prepared for war with Pathans and Hindus, resolved myself to meet the martyr’s
death. Thanks be to God, a Ghazi I became”...…. There
was no difference in the religious policy of the Muslim rulers in India and the
religious policy of the Muslim rulers in Kashmir, who established their hold
over the ancient Hindu kingdom in the early fourteenth
century AD. The Muslim rulers of Kashmir disapproved of all forms of idol
worship, the same way the Muslim rulers in India did. The Hindu temples and
shrines, being the centers of idol worship among the Hindus, evidently
attracted the wrath of the Muslim rulers, who proclaimed themselves, the
defenders of their faith. In many respects the severity of persecution of the
Hindus in Kashmir, was greater than in the rest of India and the temples and
Hindu shrines were exposed to wider destruction, than they were in the rest of
the country.”
(Kashmir---Hindu Shrines
by Chanman Lal Gadoo)
Kashmiri
Pandits Demonstrating against Destruction of Temples in Kashmir
DESTRUCTION OF
TEMPLES IN KASHMIR
“As a major militant assault on
the Hindus was delivered in January 1990, the Hindu temples and shrines,
religious places and Hindu religious institutions, came under heavy attack of
the militants. Almost all over the Kashmir province, temples were who carried,
subjected to bomb attacks and at many places, set on fire. In suburban villages
and remote regions of the province, Hindus having fled away, there was no one
left to report the damage done to the temples or complain about it. The State
Government exhibited no interest in the protection and safety of the Hindu
temples. The administrative organization, predominately Muslim, and infested
with pro-Pakistan and separatist agents, made no efforts to collect any
information about the demolition and damage done to the Hindu temples. At many
places in Srinagar as well as the other townships of the Kashmir, Hindus who
went to lodge complaints about the
desecration or demolition of temples, misappropriation of their land, arson and incendiary attacks on their
homes, were turned back from the police-stations and District and Tehsile
offices, without being able to get their complaints registered.”
(Kashmir—Hindu
Shrines by Chaman Lal Gadoo)
DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF ‘INDIA TODAY’
The issue of the demolition and
damage to the Hindu temples was raised in the Indian Parliament. On 12 March
1993, the Minister of State of Home in the Government of India stated in the
Parliament that thirty eight Hindu temples had been demolished and damaged in
Kashmir during the period from 1989, to 1991. He stated that during the year
1989, thirteen temples were demolished and damaged, during the year 1990, nine
temples were demolished and damaged and during the 1991, sixteen temples were
demolished and damaged.
YEAR TEMPLES DAMAGED AND DEMOLISHED
1989 13
1990 9
1991 16
TOTAL 38
On April 10, 1993, a demonstration
was held in front of the office of ‘India Today’ at Cannaught Place, New Delhi,
by Kashmiri Samiti. The demonstrators burnt the copies of ‘India Today’ and
raised slogans condemning the wrong picture given about Hindu temples of
Kashmir. Indian media has been distorting the facts about damaging and burning
of Kashmir Hindu Shrines since first onslaught during the year 1986 in South
Kashmir. Kashmiri Hindus had been protesting
all the time for the disinformation campaign by the Indian media.
Later during the day, Delhi police took custody all the demonstrators
and kept them at nearest police station for the day. In the evening all the
demonstrators were released.
Delhi police whisking away the demonstrators,
S/ Sh. Rajinder Premi,
C.L.Gadoo and others seen in the
picture
UNTOLD STORY OF KASHMIRI
PANDITS
The exodus of the Hindus from Kashmir was followed by widespread
depredations of their places of worship. Almost everywhere in the valley the
archaeological remains of the ancient Hindu temples, which stood an eloquent
testimony to the Hindu heritage of Kashmir, were subjected to wanton attack.
The ancient ruins of the temple, which were destroyed during the Muslim rule,
were sacred to the Hindus, who visited the sites as a part of their religious
tradition. At many places, the ruins were dug up, to wipe off their last
traces. Hindu religious, cultural and minority institutions were destroyed with
greater zeal. The Hindu religious congregations were prohibited and the places
where they were conducted, closed down. The famous shrine of Sharika, situated
on the slopes of Hari Parbat hill and commanding a view of the old city, was
covered by a pale-grey tarpaulin, for the satisfaction of the Muslims. The
other religious places were either burnt down or closed.
The buildings, in which the offices of the Hindu social organisations
were located, were also burnt down or subjected to bomb attacks. The Hindu
educational institutions were either burnt down or taken over by desperadoes
supported by the militants. Temples and shrines were destroyed by fire or subjected
to bomb blasts. The ancient shrine of Bhawan at Tulamulla in Srinagar, was
subjected to rocket attacks, which, however, struck the surrounding structures,
causing the shrine little damage. Almost the entire organisation of the Hindu
schools and colleges run by the Hindu educational societies, including
educational institutions run by the Hindu Educational Society, the Dayanand
AngloVedic organisation and the Vishva Bharti Trust were either burnt down or
seized by the militant sponsored Muslim organisations in a swift manoeuver.
The Minister of State for Home, the Government of India, stated in the
Indian Parliament on 12th March, 1993 that 28 temples and Hindu shrines were
demolished, damaged and desecrated in Kashmir during the year 1989 to 1991. The
actual number of the temples demolished and damaged in Kashmir was much larger
and vandalism to which the Hindu shrines were exposed was widespread. Sixty
eight temples and shrines located in the remote villages, far more ancient and
sacred than the mosques the Moghul imposters had erected, were burnt and
demolished or damaged, about which reports were never collected by the State
Government. In most of these remote places, there were no Hindus left behind to
have lodged complaints with the administration…
The destruction of the temples and
religious institutions was evidently aimed to destroy the Hindu religious
tradition and culture and to pave the way for the total Islamisation of
Kashmir. The militant organisations followed a systematic policy to uproot the
Hindus from Kashmir, economically and socially, and break their resolve to
return home. Right from 1989, when the militant violence commenced, the
militants followed a scorched earth policy of demolishing Hindu localities,
dispossessing the Hindus of their land, orchards, business establishments,
trades, shops and other properties to deprive them of the means of their
livelihood and burning of their houses.
(
WHITE PAPER ON KASHMIR—Dr.M.K.TENG & C.L.Gadoo)
INDIAN EXPRESS REPORTS March 14,
1993
PRESS CONFERENCE held by KASHMIRI SAMITI on
June 10, 1993
Scrap
Temporary Art. 370 for Peace and Prosperity of Jammu & Kashmir!
Truth
about Article 370 of Indian Constitution (Abridged Backgrounder)
The Indian federal polity grew out of
two diametrically divergent processes which underlined the devolution of
authority to the provinces, in what was known as the British India before the
independence, and the integration of the Indian States, which had acceded to
India in accordance with the Instruments of Accession. The Instruments of
Accession envisaged the procedure by virtue of which the Indian States, after
the British withdrawal from India and the lapse of Paramountcy, exercised the
right to accede to the Dominion of India. The federal organization of India
was, therefore, constituted of the erstwhile Indian provinces of the British
India and the Indian States which were liberated from the British tutelage
after the British colonial organization came to its end in 1947.
Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of
the Jammu and Kashmir State, acceded to the Indian Dominion on the terms and
conditions envisaged by the Instrument of Accession which was drawn by the
States Ministry of the Indian Dominion. Hari Singh signed the standard
Instrument of Accession, which the rulers of other acceding States has signed
earlier and he bound himself to the same obligations, which the rulers of the
other Indian States had accepted. There was no condition attached to the
accession of the State to India, which provided for any separate set of
constitutional relationships between Jammu and Kashmir and the Dominion of
India. All the acceding States and Unions of the States, Jammu and Kashmir
being no exception, were reserved the right to convene their own Constituent
Assemblies to draw up the constitution for their respective governments.
Indeed, Constituent Assemblies were instituted in Mysore State and the
Surashtra States Union.
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and the
other National Conference leaders were in jail when India won freedom and were
released from imprisonment months after the British had left. After their
release the Conference leaders laid no conditions for the accession of the
State to India which they supported, except that they demanded the transfer of
State power to the people, a process to which the Indian Government was equally
committed. The claims made by several State leaders as well as many national
leaders that National Conference had endorsed the accession of the State to
India on the condition that Jammu and Kashmir would be constituted into a
separate and autonomous political identity on the basis of the Muslim majority
character of its population, is a distortion of history. The Conference leaders
did not lay claim to any immunity from the future Constitution of India nor any
Indian leader gave any assurance to the ruler of the State or the Conference
leaders, about any special constitutional position, Jammu and Kashmir would be
accorded in the Indian federal organization.
In May 1949, the Premiers of the
State's took a stupendous decision in a Conference at Delhi, in which the
Negotiating Committee of the constituent Assembly participated and entrusted
the Constituent Assembly of India, the task of drawing up the Constitution for
the States. The Jammu and Kashmir did not accept the decision arrived in the
Premiers Conference and expressed its preference to convene a separate
Constituent Assembly to draft a separate constitution for the State.
Consequently, a separate meeting was held on 14 May 1949, in Delhi between the
representatives of the State Government and the representatives of the
Constituent Assembly in which Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, Nehru and Patel participated.
In the meeting the Conference leaders blankly refused to accept the inclusion
of the State in the constitutional organization of India. They told the Indian
leaders, in veiled words, that they favoured a separate constitutional
organization for the State in view of the Muslim majority character of its
population which they feared would be subjected to the dominance of the Hindu
majority in India.
Article 306-A was renumbered Article
370 at the revision stage. Jammu and Kashmir State was included in the First
Schedule of the Constitution of India which described the territories of India.
No other provision of the Constitution of India was extended to Jammu and
Kashmir. An explicit limitation was placed on the application of the Constitution
of India to the State, except in regard to the provisions of the Seventh
Schedule corresponding to the subjects by the Instrument of Accession to the
Indian Dominion. Accordingly, the power of the Union in respect of Jammu and
Kashmir was limited to the subjects in the Instrument of Accession viz. foreign
affairs, defense and communication.
Article 370 of the Constitution of
India envisaged provisions which stipulated; (a) limitations on the application
of the Constitution of India to the State, (b) the division of powers between
the Union and the State, (c) extension of the provisions of constitution of
India to the State, (d) modification and termination of the operation of
Article 370, and (e) the institution of a separate Constituent Assembly for the
State.
The only part of the Constitution
of India which was extended to the State independent of Article 370 was the
First Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which described the territorial
jurisdiction of the Indian Union. Jammu and Kashmir was listed in the First
Schedule and included in the territories of India. As a matter of fact, the
State was included in the First Schedule, in consequence of the Instrument of
Accession executed by the Ruler of the State which accomplished the irrevocable
integration of the State in the Dominion of India. The territorial jurisdiction
of the Indian State was created by the Independence Act of 1947, and
Instruments of Accession executed by the rulers of the erstwhile Princely
States. The Constitution of India described the territories of the Indian
State, constituted by the transfer of power to the Indian Dominion on 15 August
1947 and the accession of the States that followed in due course. The inclusion
of the State in the First-Schedule of the Constitution of India actually placed
it alongside the other Princely States which had acceded to India.
The integration of Jammu and Kashmir
into the State of India was, therefore, brought about by the accession of the
State to India and not by Article 370.
Article 370 was included in the
transitional provisions of the Constitution of India and was therefore,
presumed to be of transitory nature. Indeed provisions were incorporated in
Article 370 by virtue of which the President of India was empowered to modify
or terminate the operation of its provisions by a notification, provided
recommendations to that effect were made by the Constituent Assembly of the
State. The President was empowered to extend the application of the provisions
of the Constitution of India to the State by an order issued by him in
concurrence with the State government. Presumably the temporary provisions,
envisaged by Article 370, were meant to remain in operation only so long as the
Constituent Assembly of the State completed its task. Evidently, the founding
fathers of the Indian Constitution could not have visualized a perpetual
Constituent Assembly for the State. Dr. Mohan Krishen Teng & Chaman Lal
Gadoo
Scrap
Art. 370 for Peace and Prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir
A
Press conference was held by Kashmiri Samiti on 10th June 1993,
urging Government of India to scrap Art. 370 for peace and prosperity of
trouble torn Jammu & Kashmir and include Kashmiri Pandits, the original
inhabitants, for future talks on Kashmir.
JANSATTA
REPORTS
KASHMIRI HINDUS URGED
HOMELAND
The Kashmiri Pandits are the
original inhabitants of the valley of Kashmir ever since the birth of the
valley. The origin of the valley is said to be by divine intervention when
Kashypa Rishi materialized it from a huge lake. It has a history of more than
five thousand years of continuous habitation. Kalahanas Raj Tarangni,
highlighted as the first historical record of ancient India, was written by a
Kashmiri Pandit Kalhana. It offers a lucid account of the Hindu Kings and the
rich cultural traditions in the valley (Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, 1969: 92).
The ruins of the famous temples like
„Martand‟, Parithaspura at Pattan, and Narannag at Kangan and the
excavations at Burzhoma in the outskirts of the city of Srinagar speak of the
architectural attainments as much as of the religious beliefs and practices of
ancient Kashmir. Kashmir during those days was the centre of learning and the
seat of a great University at Bijbehara near Anantnag to which scholars
thronged from all parts of the world for knowledge and learning and for the
study of Sanakrit, Literature, Philosophy etc.
(Wessis Anita and Zulfiqar Gilani, 2001:
69-70)
The forced exodus of the blameless
Kashmiris and its unspeakable aftermath is not only a shameful blot on the
Indian government and the people responsible for bringing about this situation.
It portends the death of secularism and the tearing to shreds the country’s
fabric of integration so tenuously held together against the rapidly increasing
ferocity of the assaults on it from within and outside India.(“A Tangled
Affair,” 1992).
HINDUSTAN
TIMES AUGUST 14,1993 REPORTS
THE HINDU,
August 14, 1993, REPORTS
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN KASHMIR
SAMITI OBSERVE BLACK DAY
(A Report by Koshur Samachar)
The Kashmiri Samiti observed black
day to protest against the Pakistan sponsored militancy which was root cause of
an exodus from Kashmir. A silent march was taken out from Feroz Shah Kotia
grounds towards Gandhi Peace Foundation to participate in a symposium on the
human rights violation in Kashmir. The marchers, who carried banners and as a
protest had their mouths closed black cloth.
The Symposium ‘Human Rights
Violations in Kashmir’ was held as part of protests on August14, 1993,
Pakistan’s Independence Day. Among those who spoke on the occasion were Shri
Kidar Nath Sahani, Shri Arun Shourie, Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri C.L.Gadoo, Shri
Ashok Pandit, Shri H.N.Jattu,Shri A.N.Vaishnavi and Dr. Kaushalya Wali.
Eminent speakers at the symposium
said militants were the worst violators of human rights in the Kashmir valley;
they have killed hundreds and forced out over three lakh Kashmiri Pandits from
their homes. They blasted the Government and the so-called human rights
organizations for suppressing facts and blaming security forces for committing
excesses in the state.
KASHMIRI
PANDITS BECAME REFUGEES IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY! The Kashmir
Valley is in grip of terrorist trauma engineered by Pakistan. In fact, it is a
low cost proxy war declared by Pakistan against India to grab Kashmir. The
grimmest fallout of this atrocious Pak operation is the total exodus of the
Hindu minority from Kashmir Valley. It has threatened the unity of India and
the very survival of Kashmiri Hindu minority. They have been uprooted from
Kashmir Valley. The future is bleak and their existence is in danger. The
following census figures speak volumes:
Year
|
Muslims
|
Hindus
|
Others
|
1941
|
83%
|
15%
|
2%
|
1981
|
92%
|
5%
|
3%
|
1991
|
97%
|
0.1
%
|
2.9%
|
Along with the
selective killings of the prominent Kashmiri Pandits, the terrorists resorted
to their intimidation, loot of their property and the rape of their women.
These terrorists pasted names of the Kashmiri Pandits, listed on their hit lists,
on lamp-posts in Hindu localities, to terrorize the community. Notices, fixing
the dates for the Hindus to quit the Valley, were issued through local
papers. Anti-Hindu and
pro-secession and Islamic fundamentalist slogans were blared, for nights
together, over loud-speakers from mosques, throughout the valley. Lakhs of
Muslims demanding secession, chanting slogans of “Nizami Mustafa” and led by
armed terrorists, paraded in the streets of Srinagar and elsewhere. Hell was
let loose on the minority community.
Kashmiri Pandits left the valley,
leaving behind their valuable immovable as well as movable properties, worth
several thousand crores. They were compelled to give up their jobs, business,
and other income yielding assets.
The traumatic experiences of Kashmiri
Pandits were so acute that they found themselves left along to their fate, face
to face with death and dishonour. The total breakdown of the law and order
machinery spread a sense of insecurity, which was so severe that the most of
the Pandits, more than 400,000, fled the valley and migrated to Jammu and Delhi
in the dark hours of the night without any belongings. There by the ethnic
cleansing of the Pandits was completed. This concluded the process of liquidation
of Kashmiri Pandit community from Kashmir.
Unfortunately, the
assessments made by some of the Human Rights organizations are faulted in their
very fundamentals because such assessments have been based on avowedly partisan
evidence. It is a tragedy that even after some of the "watch dog"
groups like Asia Watch report was made public certain people in this country
fell prey to the Pakistani and terrorist disinformation and have developed a
mind-set totally indifferent to the plight of Kashmiri Hindus who have been
reduced to refugees in their own country for their patriotism, tolerance and
secular ideals.
SUFFERINGS FOR SURVIVAL
It is a savage battle that the
community is fighting for shelter, livelihood, education, health care,
employment and above all for its survival. It is heading towards unmitigated
disaster as the deprivation hurt and humiliation have worked havoc on the
physical, psychological and mental well-being of the community and taken a huge
toll of its members (Reddy L R, 2002: 219).
They are discriminated even
vis-à-vis the handful of refugees from the valley, mostly political bigwigs of
discredited parties who have been housed in spatial and furnished lodgings; who
are neither to get registered as refugees nor to stand in queues for relief or
rations in burning Sun, nor to run from pillar to post to prove their bonafides
as displaced, nor to wait for release of the amenities. On the contrary cash
relief and other facilities are given to them in advance for months together
(Chopra Pran, 2002: 128)
NATIONAL
HERALD,Aug.15,1993
ASIAN AGE
REPORTS
SUFFERINGS FOR SURVIVAL Cont
The community continues to perish while the
nation looks on unconcerned. More lives have been lost due to starvation,
malnutrition, disease and accidents than due to militant bullets. The community
is facing dispersal and extinction. The displaced yearn to return to their
homes and hearths, to till their own land, pursue their own professional
calling and visit their Gods and temples; but all doors are closed to them
(Schofield Victoria, 2000: 77).
BALIDAN DIWAS
Pandits become the victims of
militants and wicked Politicians. Their jobs have been usurped, houses burnt
down or looted, lands mutilated and encroached upon or annexed and their temples
desecrated. The community is at a loss to pick the loose ends of the tangle and
to free itself from the web in which it finds itself enmeshed. It is hard
pressed to preserve its religious and ethnic identity and maintain its glorious
cultural traditions. It is at pains to uphold the principles of secularism,
social justice, freedom of faith, democratic pluralism and nationalism, the
very principles at the altar of which it was sacrificed in the valley and
driven into exile (Tikko Ramesh, 2006: 127).
The UN Secretary General in his June 1992 blue-print about the role
envisaged for UN in the case of refugees made a proposal for an International
Convention defining inalienable minority rights and also called for a
declaration to be placed before the UN General Assembly. The year 1993 all over
the world was celebrated as the year of „indigenous people all over the world
under the auspices of the UN. Kashmiri Pandits are the indigenous people of
Kashmir with the continuity of a distinct ethno-religious tradition of more
than five thousand years. (The Herald dated 12 January 1993)
In 1993 Government of India passed an
act for the protection of Human Right which provided for the constitution of
National Human Rights Commissions, state Human Rights Commissions in states and
human rights courts. Fundamental rights guaranteed by constitution have not
been given protection of rights of P and it community (Ragavan S R, 2007: 129).
(L to R) Dr.
Romesh Raina, Sh.N.N.Zijoo, Sh.H.N.Jatu, Sh. Sunil Shakdar, Sh. O.P.Kholi & Sh. C.L.Gadoo
No comments:
Post a Comment