THE SAGA OF SURVIVAL
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
DURING 1990-2003, FIRST 14 YEARS OF OUR VAN VAAS
BY
CHAMAN LAL GADOO
VIDYA GAURI
GADOO RESEARCH CENTRE
71,
SUNDER BLOCK, SHAKARPUR, DELHI 110092
DEDICATED
TO THE MEMORY OF
Dr. MOHAN KRISHEN TENG
A SCHOLAR, A GUIDE, A PHILOSPHAR
FRIEND
LEST WE SHOULD
FORGET!
UNTOLD
STORY KASHMIRI PANDITS
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL DURING
1990-2003, (14 Years of Van Vaas)
Preface
‘They
alone live who live for others’ Swami Vivekananda
I want to express my gratitude to
my community members who shared at a very crucial time the pain and anguish of
our brethren who faced forced exodus from the valley. We bow to them, for upholding
the Dharma and the honour of
womenfolk which was in danger, at a very heavy cost. At that critical
juncture, when hell was let loose in the valley, we stood like a rock together.
I was then President, Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, the focal point for our struggle
for survival. It was a unique experience to find extra ordinary spirit and zeal
of our community members to find them, all out, in helping mood, when nobody
even the Government did not took cognizance of our miseries. I salute to all of
them!
The compilation
of ‘Untold Story of Survival’ has been under taken to apprise the reader
especially the youngsters the hard facts of early nineties. The turbulence, the agony, and the hardships the Hindu community
of Kashmir, had to undergo. An attempt has been made to present true
picture of our struggle against all odds. A unique method has been employed to
tell our story and will be of its own class. The reality/facts are based on
print media, Koshur Samachar, Naad of those days and commentaries by different
eminent persons.
I
am indebted to all who stood together like a joint family to help displaced
brethren at a very crucial time of early nineties. This was a unique experience
of togetherness of Kashmiri Hindus of Delhi NCR. Support came from all Kashmiri
Pandit organizations in India and abroad which was diverted to Jammu brethren,
where it was needed most. My sincere thanks to all overseas friends who helped
and showed concern about happenings back home. I am grateful to all those who
supported us. I want to record my sincere thanks to Amar Colony Traders
Association under the leadership of Sh. Ram Lal Ji, who hailed from Kotli
(POK), who took charge of kitchen at Kashmir Bhawan during those turbulent
days.
I am thankful to all those activists who
stood with me all along during long years of our tryst before National Human
Rights Commission. Initially, All India Kashmiri Samaj, Panun Kashmir Movement,
Indo-Canadian Kashmir Forum (ICKF), Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi and at later stage
Kashmiri Pandit Conference and Joint Human Rights Committee, New Delhi. I am
thankful to Sh. Ashok Bhan, senior advocate, who stood with me while
representing Kashmiri Samiti.
At
the outset, I want to thank Dr. Mohan Krishen Teng who guided with his rich
knowledge and experience all along. I am
thankful to Mrs. Nancy Kaul, Daughters of Vitasta, and other well-wishers who
encouraged me to compile a study on our Untold Struggle of Survival.
I am grateful to Ms. Aditi
Koul, Ms. Asha Khosa and Sh. Anil Anand, versatile journalists and other
eminent journalists for their faithful reporting of our struggle of survival,
from time to time. I am indebted to all those who’s reporting are used in the
study.
I am indebted to Sh. Kider Nath Sahani, and
Sh. Madan Lal Khurana, two great Karam Yogis, who helped and stood like rock,
with us through all thick and thin. I
bow to them and to all those comrades who left for heavenly abode during our
struggle for survival, especially Kashmiri Hindu Martyrs, brave sons of the
soil, who fell to terrorist bullets, also Security personals who laid their
lives in defending the honour of the country.
I am indebted to all those who rendered
help and support in compiling this task. I have drawn heavily from different
National Newspapers; Jammu & Kashmir based newspapers, Koshur Samachar,
Koshur Gazette and Naad. I am thankful to them. I am also grateful to International Journal of Hindu Studies, Haley Duschinski, Asst. Professor of
Anthropology at Ohio University, Athens, for her work “Survival Is Now Our Politics”: Kashmiri Hindu Community Identity and the
Politics of Homeland.
We
condemned the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley.
During those turbulent days, we came out in thousands on roads to protest and to
be heard. Rest is the
history!
Finally, as President of different
associations at different intervals of time, during nineties, I owe to the long
list of devoted members of Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, Jammu Kashmir Sangam, Delhi,
and Jammu & Kashmir Cell, Bharatiya Janta Party, Delhi Pradesh, who imposed
the unconditional faith in me during those hard hitting days. I have no words
to thank them who worked selflessly during our VAN VAAS of early nineties. May
God Bless You ALL!
History is relentless, it does not forget nor does it
forgive!
CHAMAN
LAL GADOO (AUTHOR AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST)
I slept,
And dreamt that life was all joy,
I awoke,
And saw that life was but service,
I served,
And understood that service was
joy!
---Rabinder Nath
Tagore
A PAGE FROM STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
The history of Kashmir begins with the
history of the Vedic civilization of India. The people of Kashmir are a part of
the proto-Vedic people of India, who have inhabited Kashmir from the most
ancient times, going back to the latter stone-age culture of the Indian people
who lived in the whole of the north of India. Hindus of Kashmir claim themselves to be
Saraswat Brahmins and trace their ancestory to the Saraswat Brahmins living
along the course of the legendry river Saraswati, which formed the cradle of
Vedic civilization of India.
Evidence is available
of the close contact between the people of the Saraswati civilization and
people of Kashmir. Nilmat era of the Hindu history of Kashmir followed the
disappearance of the river Saraswati. Nilmat Purana narrates; “sixty five
rituals and festivals, were celebrated with great devotion, faith, pomp and
show. Some of the rituals and festivals find mention in other Puranas also.
Some of these are celebrated even today in Kashmir, like Kaw Poonim and Yaksha Mavas
(Kechri Mavas). It is generally thought that the Purana talk of rituals and
festivals of Nagas only, and these being adopted by Aryan Saraswat Brahmins of
Kashmir, which is not so. Many of the rituals, festivals and days are common
with those followed by Aryans in Bharatvarsha or emanating from Vedas.
Kashmiri Hindus have a rich cultural heritage.
They possessed numerous religious endowments and shrines. Many Hindu monarchs
built numerous elegant temples, some of these still exist. The Shiv- Shakti
cult, the Mahayana Buddhism and even the Kamasutra originated from Kashmir.
There is lot of literature on religion, history, philosophy and lovelore on
Kashmir, as much as 35 percent of Sanskrit literature came from Kashmir. The
Shiva philosophy got new dimensions in the folklore, in the Lalla Vakh of Saint
Lalleshwari. Buddhism, Vaisnavism and
Shaivism flourished side by side in Kashmir. Emperor Ashoka brought Buddhism to
the valley. Three centuries later, Emperor Kanishka convened the Fourth
Buddhist Council in Kashmir, which led to the founding of its Mahayana sect.
Buddhist missionaries from Kashmir carried it to Central Asia and China.
Lalitaditya Muktapida was the greatest Hindu emperor Kashmir has ever produced.
He built a number of new towns with temples of great archaeological importance.
“There was not a township, no village, no river, no island where this king did
not lay down a sacred foundation.” writes Kalhana in Rajatarangni.
Islam spread quickly in Kashmir
because there was large-scale persecution of Hindus and their forcible
conversion during the Muslim rule. During the reign of Sultan Sikander
(1389-1413), nicknamed ‘Butshikan’, only 11 Hindu families survived conversion,
and first mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits to plains took place. He destroyed
hundreds of temples and built mosques in their place and with their material.
With the collapse of the Mughal
Empire in 1752, Kashmir was taken over by the Afghans. This was perhaps the
worst period in the annals of Kashmir unheard of in human history.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir from Afghan’s in 1819. Sikhs
ruled Kashmir till 1846.Within four months of Sikh rule census was conducted in
Kashmir. The population stood at 6 Lakhs and out of that only 28,000 were
Kashmiri Pandits!
The Dogras ruled the State from 1846 to 1947 till India got independence
from the British rule. The last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State,
Maharaja Hari Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession to unite his domains
with the State of Indian Union. Soon after, tribals and regulars from Pakistan
invaded the State but the Indian security forces repulsed the attack and pushed
the invaders out. In January 1949, a ceasefire agreement was concluded between
India and Pakistan with one-third of the state territories still remaining
under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. India accorded special status to
Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
The creation of Pakistan in 1947 was a landmark in the struggle for the
unification of the Muslim Ummah. Ever since Pakistan was created, it has
followed a sustained policy of thrust for expansion towards the east, as a
major strategy to spread across Jammu & Kashmir and take the Muslim power to the
predominantly Muslim regions of Central Asia, Mongolia and Sinkiang.
Kashmiri Hindus, usually called Kashmiri Pandits
are historically and traditionally a community of scholars, intellectuals,
efficient professionals, administrative workforce and have passion for education,
and a community which is almost cent percent educated in varied disciplines. It
was thus an unbearable oppression for them when the State authorities worked
assiduously and strictly towards restricting their admissions to higher
educational courses and institutions. Simultaneously, their opportunities to
enter State Government employment were also slashed. Their landed properties
were taken over under the grab of ‘Land to Tillers’ and under the cover of laws
which were unconstitutional, unfair and unequal. State Government changed the
names of 684 villages, which had Hindu names by a Government order No.
REV/S/340 of 1981 dated 13-10-1981. The Muslimisation of the various
political and economic processes had begun earlier and the minorities in Kashmir
were at the receiving end.
The Hindus have loved their land with greater spiritual and social
commitments than the Muslims, because they are not imposters and they have been
living in the valley, generation after generation, over thousands of years.
They possess a greater sense of belonging, being the original inhabitants and
owners of the rich ancestral heritage and have their roots in the
geography of the land. They are not conquerors; they have risen from their soil!
UNTOLD
STORY OF KASHMIRI PANDITS
Kashmir, a Hindu kingdom, which had touched
the pinnacles of glory under the Karkotas and later the Utpalas, extending its
territories, north and east as well as west, and which had become a major
military power in the north of India, passed under the Muslim rule early in
fourteenth century, when a Tibetan fugitive, Rinchen seized the throne of the
kingdom. Rinchen was supported in his struggle for power by Shah Mir, a Muslim
adventurer and soldier of fortune, who had taken service in the kingdom of
Kashmir, and had risen to power and position, with the patronage of the Hindu
kings.
Baharistan-i-Shahi, a Persian
work, written in 1614 AD, and recently translated into English, by Dr.Kashi
Nath Pandita, a noted Persian scholar and an expert in Central Asian Studies,
reveals the truth. Baharistan-i-Shahi narrates; “At this time only a handful of
people in Kashmir have embraced Islam. Most of the people were infidels or
dissemblers. But when Rinchen thought of embracing a religion, and associating
himself with a community, he made enquires about the principles and laws of
their religion from the savants among the infidels and the learned men of the
times. They beseeched him to join their fold. The Muslims also put before him,
the principles and teachings of the Islamic faith and invited him to embrace
their religion. But owing to serious differences among the two religious
groups, and the disagreement prevailing among the two religious groups he was
not able to reach any decision. Each community considered its religion the true
one and each group induced him to embrace its religion. He was in a fix because
of the serious differences and glaring contradictions in the views of their
communities. Their heated discussions and discourses led him to no satisfactory
conclusions. However, blessed as he was with a dispensation for justice, for
‘God helps those who help themselves,’ he found the right path. He firmly decided
that he would embrace the religion of the first man; he would meet in the
street after coming out of his house the next morning. He also decided to join
the community to which the man belonged.”Baharistan-i-Shahi notes further;
“Next morning he came out of his house. The rays of the sun of divine guidance,
bringing every object from darkness to light, librated him from darkness of
ignorance and disbelief; for all of a
sudden, in the neighborhood of his mansion, he saw a Darvish offering Namaz (the Muslim way of praying), with full devotion. He went
towards him, when the Darvish had
finished his prayer; Rinchen held him by the hand and brought him to his house.
Then he called on an interpreter who knew his languages.” After having asked the Darvish his name and
his religion, he was told by the Darvish
his name was Bulbul Qalandar and his religion was Islam, and that he was a
member of the sect of Shah Nematullah Wali of the Shia sect. There upon Rinchen
embraced Islam and became the first Shia Muslim ruler of Kashmir assuming the
name of Sultan Shams-U-Din. (Kashmir-Hindu
Religious Culture by C.L.Gadoo)
The story of what happened to the Hindus and Hindu religious culture in
Kashmir, during the rule of the Shah Miri Sultans and the Chaks, Mughals and
the Afghans, who followed them, have not been told. The British historians and
their Europeans contemporaries, who awakened the Hindus of Kashmir to their
Sanskrit past and retrieved whatever was left of their Sanskrit heritage from
the centuries of oppression and religious persecution, which they were subject
to during the Muslim rule. They carried archeological studies to identify their
temples, which lay in ruins strewn around all over the ancient kingdom. They
located whatever of the Sanskrit books and records had escaped destruction and
recorded their oral traditions, which the Hindus, who had survived the
holocaust had passed on from generation to generation, including the valuable Vakhas of the Hindu poetess Lalli Shori, who lived through the early
phase of Muslim rule in Kashmir. But they avoided any inquiry and investigation
into the destruction and devastation, the Muslim rule brought to the Hindus in
the Hindu kingdom of Kashmir.
Hundreds of thousands of Hindus
were killed, thousands of them left Kashmir and went into exile and the rest
were converted to Islam. Another Persian chronicle, Tohafatul-Ahbab, which was
also translated by Dr. Kashi Nath Pandita records; “In accordance with the
guidance instructions of Amir-e-Kabir, this religious-abiding ruler became the
instrument of strengthening the religion of Muhammad and the community of
Mustafa. He brought prosperity and embellishment to the faith of the Prophet.
He razed to ground all the idols houses in his country. The idols of the
infidels and the customs of the (Kafirs)
community of infidels, and of vices, aberrations and oppressions of the
heretics (Zandiq) were abolished. He
ordered the infidels and the polytheists to leave the country. For breaking and
destroying the idol houses, temples and idols, he is known by the title of
Sultan Sikandar, the iconoclast (But-Shikan).”
The persecution of the Hindus
continued unabated during the successors of Sikandar. A hundred years later,
the chronicler of Baharistan-i-Sahi wrote of his contemporary times, how
another Muslim missionary Mir Shamas-ud-Din Iraqi, a Shia divine of western
Iran, who had come to Kashmir, to spread the faith of Islam carried out the
task of conversion of the Hindus with the help of the chief Wazir, Malik Musa
Raina, of the ruling Sultan.
In a footnote appended to his translation of
Baharistan-e-Shahi, Kashi Nath Pandita writes; “It is recorded in
Tohafatul-Ahbab, that on the instance of Shamsud-Din Iraqi, Musa Raina issued
orders that every day 1,500 to 2, 000 infidels be brought to the doorsteps of
Mir Shamsud-Din by his followers. They would remove their sacred thread
(Zunnar), administer Kalima to them,
circumcise them and made them eat beef.” What was done to those who refused
conversion is not mentioned…(
Kashmir-Hindu Religious Culture by C.L.Gadoo)
CHAPTER
I
THE SAGA OF SURVIVAL!
Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is a
process of political violence which has specified political commitments aimed
to separate Jammu and Kashmir State from India and secure its annexation to
Pakistan. The second major dimension of
terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is the terrorists' aim to exterminate Hindu
population in the Kashmir valley because Hindus do not accept the secession of
the state from India and its annexation to Pakistan nor do they accept to be
governed by the authority which derives its sanction from the law and precedent
of Islam. The Hindus have always supported accession of the state to India.
They have, undeniably, formed the most powerful support base for India in
Kashmir. They were always in the forefront of the struggle against secessionism,
communalism, fundamentalism and the various movements for annexation of the
state to Pakistan.
A lot of crap is being peddled out
about Kashmiri Pandits having a dominant position in Kashmir whereas facts
speak a different story. The basic fact is that the Muslims are ruling elite in
Kashmir. They dominate the entire economic organization and enjoy communal
precedence in social forums. Islam is virtually the official religion of the
state. They have three-fourth share in legislative bodies, administrative
organizations and all the local government institutions. In the Kashmir
province, Hindus have no elected representation in local bodies. They
constitute less than 5 percent of the administrative services of the state and
have less than 1percent share in higher cadres of the state administration.
Muslim monopolizes 94 percent of the state services in Kashmir. More than 90
percent of the admissions to professional, technical and other educational
institutions are reserved for Muslims in one form or the other. In financial
sphere, the Muslims own 96 percent of agricultural lands, orchards and other
urban landed estates. They enjoy monopoly over the entire industrial
organizations, trade and commerce, financial resources and exports from the
province of Kashmir. The pressure tactics and persecution that the Pandits
faced in Kashmir drove almost half their number out of their homes during the
four decades of the Indian independence in search of their livelihood. The rest
of them were forcefully flushed out in 1990, when Islamic terrorist struck the
valley and a large number of minority community members were murdered in cold
blood, tortured, raped, temples desecrated, their property looted and burnt.
The rumblings of the storm which
engulfed Kashmiri Pandits were heard long before it swept the valley. The
ultimate and devastating blow came on January 19, 1990, late in the night, when
hell was let loose. The total breakdown of the law and order machinery spread a
deep sense of insecurity, which was so severe that the most of the Pandits fled
the valley and migrated to Jammu and Delhi in the dark hours of the night, with
their shirts on!
In Jammu, where the refugees poured in thousands, the State Government
failed to rise to the occasion and provide temporary shelter and relief to the
hundreds of thousands of the Hindus sprawling on the streets in the temple city
of Jammu. Were it not for the yeoman service of the voluntary Hindu
organizations, which immediately swung into action to organize relief for the
refugees, hunger and disease would have taken a heavy toll of the unfortunate
people, who had suddenly been thrown into the wilderness. No help came from any
quarter. Silence of death fell on the liberals, the protagonists of secularism,
the radicals and the rest. Gita Bhawan, a temple complex situated in the heart
of the Jammu city, adjacent to the Shiva Temple, was converted into a
reception-cum-transit camp, where the Hindu refugees arriving from Kashmir,
disembarked. The various Hindu organizations of Jammu, which had organized
relief for the Hindu refugees arriving in thousands from the Kashmir valley,
established a broad-based relief committee constituted of several prominent
Hindu leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation was named the Sahayata
Samiti. Pandit Amar Nath Vaishnavi, a prominent Hindu leader and social
activist, was appointed the Vice-President of the Samiti. Vaishnavi was
actually put in control of the function of the Samiti. In Delhi, the other main
place, where the refugees arrived in large numbers, the work of relief and
rehabilitation was taken up by the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi, headed by Chaman Lal
Gadoo, an indefatigable social worker.
In Delhi, a regular camp was organized at Kashmir Bhawan, the
headquarters of Kashmiri Samiti, where thousands of our displaced brethren
lived in rotation. A regular free kitchen was started with help of local market
association and others. Clothes and essential items like toothpaste, soaps etc.
were provided to the persons staying in the transit camp.
An all party meeting was held in
Kashmir Bhawan on 4rth March 1990. Sarvshri K.N.Sahani, Jatehdar Richpal Singh,
Nawang Gorpe, Bhim Singh addressed the Biradari members. All speakers expressed
sympathy and assured all possible help.
Recollecting the history of human tragedy of Kashmir, a massive protest
rally was organized by Kashmiri Samiti Delhi, on 8th March 1990 from Red Fort
to Boat Club. Thousands of young and old – men and women participated in the
march. The rally converted itself a public meeting which was addressed by Sh.
Krishan Lal Sharma and Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra (both from BJP), Jathedar
Richpal Singh (Akali Dal, Master Tara Singh Group), Sh. Bhim Singh (Panther
Party), Brig. R.N.Madan, AIKS President and by C.L.Gadoo President KSD.
Thereafter, a memorandum was submitted to the Prime Minister urging him to
consider seriously the happening in Kashmir and more so at the plight of Hindu
minority of the bleeding valley.
The rally was followed by visit to Kashmir Bhawan by the members of all
Advisory Committee headed by Sh. George Fernandes, then the Union Minister of
Kashmir Affairs on March 14, 1990. Sh. Fernandes heard the refugees from
Kashmir. As per suggestion of Sh. George Fernandes, a delegation under the
leadership of Sh. C.L.Gadoo met in the office Sh. Fernandes on 15 March 1990.
After this meeting, the Government opened the camps and registration for refugees
immediately. Samiti had series of meetings with Sh. George Fernandes, Minister
for J & K Affairs and Sh. Subodh Kant Sahay, Minister of State for Home
Affairs and apprised them genuine problems of those persons who were forcefully
driven out from the valley. Meanwhile, Central Government declared Kashmiri
Samiti, Delhi as Nodal Agency for relief and rehabilitation of refugees from
Kashmir.
A day long
Dharna was organized by Kashmiri Samiti on March 20, 1990 at the residence of
Sh. Goerge Fernandes, Minister for Kashmir Affairs. A large number of Kashmiri
Pandits joined the protest. Deputy Commissioner of Delhi promised on behalf of
the Minister, who was out of Delhi, of speedy relief to the refugees. The
protest rally on 8 March 1990 in Delhi, the march from Red Fort to Boat Club, when
thousands of protestors, young, old, women and even children, carrying play cards and raising slogans
against Pakistan sponsored terrorism and onslaught on Kashmiri Hindus by Muslim
fundamentalists, throughout the long route caught the attention of the
Government and general public at large. The rally for survival of the suffering
community, the glimpse as captured by print media on the same day, then;
A PAGE
FROM RECENT HISTORY
Communal violence that rocked Kashmir
Valley during the fateful last week of February 1986 has taken a heavy toll in
terms of not only the trail devastation it has left behind but also the damage
it has inflicted on the psyche of a whole community of Kashmiri Pandits. (A
Report by Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi)
RIOTS IN KASHMIR DURING 1986
‘Anti-Hindu riots in
north Kashmir began in the township of Anantnag in 1986. The riots engulfed the
whole of the south Kashmir and spread to the district of Baramulla in
north-west of Kashmir. Mobs attacked the Hindus, burnt their homes and then
destroyed their temples and places of worship. The reports of the anti-Hindu
riots evoked sharp reaction from Hindus in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Arya
Samaj and the Bharatiya Janata Party sent their fact finding teams to Anantnag
and the other affected places in the Kashmir province. The Bharatiya Janata
Party team was headed by Shri Kedar Nath Sahani, a senior leader, of the party.
The Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, the frontline organization of the Kashmiri Hindus
living in Delhi, also sent a team of its members to Kashmir to report on the
anti-Hindu riots and the damage done to the Hindus shrines and temples.
The Kashmiri Samiti team constituted of
a Committee which was headed by Shri J.L.Bhat, President of the Samiti and four
other members,
Sh. M.L. Kaul, Capt. M.K. Kachru, Sh. Deepak Bhan and Sh. J.N. Tikoo. The Committee went from village to village, collecting information
about the damage done to the Hindus in the riots. The five members fact-finding
Committee of the Kashmiri Samiti arrived in Srinagar on March 15. The Committee
visited the worst affected villages of Dhanav, Wanpoh, Lok Bhawan, Bijbehara,
Pampore, besides Srinagar. They also met
the representatives of all affected areas individually and severally.’
(Kashmir—Hindu Shrines by Chanman Lal Gadoo)
A Report by Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi
‘Members of the fact finding committee
observed during their visit that almost all Hindu temples in the Anantnag
District have been severely damaged and desecrated, priceless architectural
treasures and idols broken as a real reminiscent of the dark days of Sikandar,
the Iconoclast.
All evidence points to deep-rooted
and sinister conspiracy to exterminate the Hindu minority of Kashmir. The
marauders came for attack when most of the men folk were away at work. Whenever
men came their way, they were subjected to severe beating, some of them having
been injured seriously. Even tethered cows were beaten up mercilessly merely
because these belonged to Hindus.
Even though the violence has
abated, an air of despondency and deep sense of insecurity and fear prevails
amongst the Kashmiri Pandits, who are even now threatened with dire
consequences. Posters issued in the name of fundamentalist and pro-Pakistan
organizations like Muslim Militia and Al-Jehad continue to surface in Srinagar
and elsewhere in the valley preaching hatred against the minority community.
The minority community is badly
shaken and has no faith in the administration which, it thinks, has in many
cases acted in collusion with fundamentalists and anti-national forces. It is
apparent that without the connivance of like-minded elements in the State
administration, these forces could not have wrought the destruction they did.
The brutalized atmosphere prevailing in
Kashmir valley speaks of a definite design to squeeze out this tiny minority.
Therefore, large scale exodus of the scared Pandits appears to be in the
offing.’
A Brief History of Kashmiri Hindu Associations outside
Jammu & Kashmir
‘Kashmiri Hindus migrated out of
Kashmir Valley in significant numbers during the colonial period, with migrant
communities engaging in considerable self-conscious reflection on the
preservation of cultural identity, values, and traditions under conditions of
political adversity and social change. As Henny Sender (1988) has shown,
Kashmiri Hindu community associations flourished outside the Valley in the
nineteenth and early twentieth century among community members living in the
areas that were then known as the Northwestern Provinces and Oudh, the British
province of Punjab, and some of the princely states of central India,
Rajputana, and the Punjab. As urban elites who had worked in government service
for generations, Kashmiri Hindus in these areas formed Kashmiri mohallas
(enclaves) in the northern towns, such as Amritsar, Allahabad, Agra, Lahore,
and Lucknow, which were the centers of the former imperial and princely courts.
These towns “were the nerve centers of Kashmiri Pandit life, linking Kashmiris
in these cities through kin, biradari, and marriage relationships with
their caste-fellows scattered all over northern India” (Pant 1987: xv).’
‘New associations emphasizing
preservation of the social values and cultural traditions of the dispersed
community emerged among these urban elites after Indian Independence. One of
the earliest of these new associations was the Kashmiri Pandit Association at
Varanasi, founded prior to Independence, in 1946, by students and faculty
affiliated with Banaras Hindu University (Dhar 1995).
Another
prominent association was the Kashmir Sabha Calcutta, which formally adopted
its constitution in 1955 and pursued regular activities in the 1960s, including
festival celebrations for Navreh, Shivaratri and Krishna Janam Ashtami,
children’s functions, community outings, and publication of a monthly
newsletter. These local associations were brought together under an umbrella
organization called the All India Kashmir Samaj (AIKS), formed in Allahabad in
1979 under the leadership of Justice P. N. Bakshi, who had also founded the
Uttar Pradesh Kashmiri Samaj’. (Dhar 1995)
‘Community members, through the work of community associations, made
self-conscious efforts to preserve their distinctive identity as Kashmiri Brahmanas
while participating in the world of the Urdu-speaking elite in northern India.
These AIKS biradari units in the 1980s
fostered and preserved a sense of cultural identity by holding meetings,
functions, picnics, and celebrations. They also addressed community concerns,
including the dowry system, education and employment problems, preservation of
cultural heritage, and propagation of the Kashmiri language. Delhi, known as
the oldest and largest Kashmiri Hindu center outside Kashmir since the Mughal
period, became a focal point of biradari activity after Indian Independence.
A group of Kashmiri Hindus in Delhi founded the Kashmiri Cooperative House
Building Society in 1950, purchasing 26 acres of land in South Delhi, at
Kalkaji, in order to develop an enclave for community members “with the definite
objective of maintaining and perpetuating their culture and traditions” This
area developed into Pamposh Enclave, with approximately 150 plots, ranging from
200 to 700 square yards, for residential purposes (A. Raina 1995:). The
Kashmiri Samiti Delhi emerged in the 1950s, with many of its members located in
Pamposh Enclave, and began circulating a community magazine, Koshur Samachar,
in the 1970s. (A. Raina 1995: 552)’
KASHMIRI SAMITI DELHI
‘In the 1990s, the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi emerged as the most influential
community organization in the country by managing the large numbers of migrants
who migrated to the capital city and also by negotiating with elected leaders
at the city, state, and national levels for relief. Beginning in late 1989, the
Kashmiri Samiti Delhi opened the community hall of the Kashmir Bhawan to
individuals and families who had nowhere to stay in the capital city, providing
temporary shelter for hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus before the municipal
government granted the migrants, community halls as migrant camps in
neighborhoods throughout the city. Families lived in these camps temporarily,
for months or years, before finding rental accommodation elsewhere in the city.
Families chose to live in them as long as possible in order to save money, in
some cases, and participate fully in the political life of the community, in
others. The Kashmiri Samiti Delhi also coordinated relief efforts by appealing
to the Delhi municipal government and the Central Government for the
establishment of transit camps, the provision of cash stipends, and the
distribution of rations to the migrants. It became recognized by the Union
Government as the nodal agency for displaced Kashmiri Hindus.’ International Journal of Hindu Studies by
Haley Duschinski, Assistant Professor of
Anthropology at Ohio University, Athens)
KASHMIRI SAMITI DELHI
(VANGUARD OF STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL IN NCR
DELHI)
At Jammu, Sahita Samiti, Geeta
Bhawan, headed by Pandit Amar Nath Vaishnavi and Kashmir Pandit Sabha,
Amphalla, headed by Dr. Kaushalia Wali, took charge of displaced persons from
the valley. In Delhi, the main place of refuge, the Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi,
took up the work of relief and rehabilitation. A transit camp was set up at
Kashmir Bhawan itself for the displaced persons who were later shifted to 14
other camps in Delhi. The Samiti organized seminars, demonstrations, public
rallies and raised their voice against human rights violations, genocide and
ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus. Unheard displaced Kashmiri Hindus, who
became refugees in their own country, resorted to peaceful protests and
demonstrations for the reprisal for their just demands!
Kashmiri Samiti Delhi started
Registration of refugees at Kashmir Bhawan itself, which was later taken over
by Delhi Administration at a later date. Registration of Kashmiri Migrants
(1-1-1990 to30-6-1991)
Total
registered migrant families in Delhi—18507 families
Drawing relief—3748 families staying in camps---369 families
Kashmiri
Migrant Camps in Delhi;
Kailash Colony
(GK I)—6 families,
Krishna Market (Lajpat Nagar)—24families,
South Extention
---20 families,
Ali
Ganj (Lodhi Road) --- 22families,
Begum
Pur (Malviya Nagar)---14 families,
Hauz Rani (Malviya Nagar)---32
families,
Bapu
Dham---40 families,
New Moti Nagar---31 families,
Baljit Nagar(West Patel Nagar)---40
families,
Mangol Puri (N Block)-50 families,
(M Block)-15 families,
Sultan
Puri-36families,
Palika Dham-18 families,
Nand Nagri(East
Delhi)-21families.
Total
369families.
KASHMIRI SAMITI DELHI
Apart from two BJP stalwarts Sh.
Kidar Nath Sahani and Sh. Madan Lal Khurana, two sympathetic top officials of
NCT Delhi Government Ms. Rita Kumar, Director and Sh.G.S. Negi Development
Commissioner of Delhi helped us most. They visited Kashmir Bhawan Camp off and
on. They were instrumental in building wash-room cum toilet block at Kashmir
Bhawan for the inmates on an emergency basis. Not only that there were
instructions with concerned officials to sort out day to day problems of
displaced persons at spot. Even after allotment of camps for displaced brethren
these official used to visit those camps and help the intimates. May God bless
them!
At a later date, I met Sh. Negi,
at a function organized at Sikkim House in New Delhi, by Sh. K.N.Sahani, Governor,
Sikkim, who introduced the chief secretary, of Sikkim Sh. Negi to me. We met
warmly. I reminded Negi ji of his good work while Dev. Commissioner of NCT
Delhi for displaced Kashmiri Pandits in distress. Perhaps, it is because of
their prayers has brought you this rank so soon, which he gracefully
acknowledged.
MEETING WITH US CONGRESSMAN STEPHEN J. SOLARZ
A long, purposeful and
fruitful meeting was held with US Congressman Stephen j. Solarz, Chairman,
House of Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs on 31st.May 1990 at New
Delhi. The delegation comprised of Dr. M.K.Teng, Dr. K. Warikoo, Dr. Utpal Kaul, and Sh.
Vijay Tikoo and led by C.L.Gadoo. Kashmiri Pandits in USA like Sh. K.L.Koul,
Sh.H.L.Fotedar, Dr. Vijay Sazawal and others had also met Mr. Solarz earlier.
Congressman Stephen Solarz of New York was at one time (in 1990) the ONLY pro
India Congressman in the U.S. Congress. He was at a loss to comprehend why
India has treated Kashmiri Hindus so poorly. Times
of India, 15 November 1991, reports; ‘How in the US, the Pakistan lobbyists had
Commissioned a professional firm for a million-dollar campaign on human rights
violations in Kashmir and the right of self-determination for Kashmir, had been
vindicated by Kanaiya Lal Kaul' s, executive secretary of the Indo-American
Kashmir Forum and President of the Kashmir oversees Association, and Hiralal
Fotedar's, President of the Indo-American Kashmir Forum, statements during
their official visit to Kashmir during November, 1991 to assess the conditions
of the Kashmir refugees and to document facts to be presented to the world
community. They also said, "the Pakistan-based organisations in the US and
Britain were trying to project alleged human rights violations by India in
Kashmir deliberately ignoring other human rights abuses by the terrorist
organisations. And not surprisingly, Congressmen like Burton gave in to their false and motivated propaganda and
indulges in India-bashing time and
again…’ Congressman Solarz was spearheading a
campaign against these Burton-cohorts, and supporting and understanding the·
human rights problems in India particularly of Kashmiri Hindus.
At a later date during my personal visit
to US, Dr. Vijay Sazawal was gracious enough to invite me for a discussion with
US Congressmen at his residence. I had a night long meeting with Congressman
Sherrod Brown and others. I informed them about the developments in Kashmir and
the plight of Kashmiri Hindus. The Human Rights Violations of minorities of
Kashmir, Ethnic cleansing and Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus, the original
inhabitants, was discussed in detail. The destruction of the social base of the Hindus by
desecration and destruction of their places of worship, looting, burning their
properties and business houses, flushing out Hindus who refuse to submit to the
terrorist dictates, by force, fear of death, fear of conversion and criminal
assault on their women was taken very seriously. They were sad to know about our
untold miseries. The US Congressmen assured to persuade the US Government and
the Indian Government to adopt a more sympathetic policy towards exiled
community.
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON KASHMIR CRISIS
(Koshur Samachar
November 1990)
Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, organized a two day conference on ‘Kashmir
Crisis’ in New Delhi on Oct 21-22, 1990.Nearly four hundred Kashmiri Pandits
belonging to various walks of life participated. Sh. S.L.Shakdhar former Chief
Election Commissioner presided over the conference. Giani Zail Singh,
ex-President of India inaugurated the conference. Sh. Girilal Jain, a reputed
journalist, was the Chief Guest. Among other speakers were S/Sh Balraj Madhok,
Ram Chander Vikal, Bhim Singh and Kedar Nath Sahani. Sh.Dilip Kaul,Vice President,
welcomed the guests and ampathically said; “It is imposible to think of Kashmir
without Kashmiri Pandits and it is equally unimaginable that India will be
divided again.” Sh. R.L.Shali, General Sectary of the Samiti, propose vote of
thanks.
KASHMIR IS A
MUSLIM PROBLEM
Just as the Jammu and Kashmir State cannot be
identified with the Valley of Kashmir, the people of the State cannot be
identified with the people of the Kashmir Valley, who are predominantly Muslim.
The dispute over Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim problem. But it is more a
problem of the Hindus, the Sikhs and the Buddhists, who are living in the State
and who form more than forty percent of the population of the State on the
Indian side of the Line of Control. The
reduction of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir to a dispute over the Valley of
Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is deceptively simple and viciously
aimed to project the Muslim content of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. The
dispute over Jammu and Kashmir has a Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist content as well,
which is more significant than its Muslim content. The Hindus and the Sikhs
constitute a dominant majority of the population of Jammu province, while the
Buddhists form a majority of the population of Ladakh. The Muslims form a
majority of the population of only the province of Kashmir.
(Bitter Truth By Dr. M.K.Teng and
C.L.Gadoo)
SURVIVAL IS NOW OUR POLITICS
‘The Kashmiri Samiti Delhi pursued
all activities through the language of cultural identity, values, and
traditions, thereby carefully maintaining its concern with social and cultural
matters as opposed to political ones. However, the distinctions between social
and cultural concerns, on the one hand, and political concerns, on the other,
were not so sharp. Chaman Lal Gadoo, President of the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi at
the time of the migration (and also at the time of my fieldwork), reflects on
these issues in a published interview entitled,
“Survival is Our Politics”:
Q:
What change do you see in Samiti activities in last ten years.
A:
Role of Kashmir Samiti was basically social and cultural. But the year 1989
onwards was a disaster for the entire community. Our existence is threatened
and we had to change our priorities.…
Q:
Some people say that Kashmiri Samiti has now been made political Akhara
[literally
“martial order”].
A:
I do not agree with such statements. I feel community leaders have a
responsibility. If I see my people dying for want of basic necessity, education
etc, I cannot remain a silent spectator.
I will fight for every needy Kashmiri Pandit. Survival of my community members
is now our politics (1999).’
(International Journal of Hindu Studies by Haley
Duschinski, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Ohio University, Athens)
KOSHUR SAMACHAR
‘The Kashmiri Samiti Delhi
discursively constructs the Kashmiri Hindu community in particular ways through
its articles, editorials, white papers, appeals, and reports. This discourse is
circulated among community members through Koshur
Samachar, a monthly magazine published by the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi and
circulated among approximately two thousand subscribers at the time of my
fieldwork. Koshur Samachar changed
dramatically in tone, format, and appearance after the migration of 1990 in
response to increasing attention to the plight of the Kashmiri Pandit migrant
community. Every issue contained a preliminary editorial statement addressing a
current matter of significant concern to the community, followed by a series of
articles discussing various aspects of the cultural heritage and political
battles of the Kashmiri Pandits. Other regular features included a summary of
news “from the president’s desk,” a brief cultural/religious commentary on the
current calendar month, a series of poems by young and old, a selection of letters
to the editor, and a roundup of the Biradari
news from cities throughout India. There were also sporadic reports on the
activities of the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi, summaries of community conferences and
symposia, copies of relevant articles published in daily newspapers, printings
of first-person reflections and reveries on life in the Valley, short stories
and folk tales, and reprints of important memoranda and appeals.’ (Ms.
Haley Duschinski)
Koshur Samachar, official organ of
Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, was built brick by brick by old veterans of the Samiti.
During nineties Koshur Samachar , a tri-lingual (English, Hindi and Kashmiri)
monthly magazine, took a dramatic turn and became one of leading mouthpiece of
the community with wide range of readership. The untiring efforts of editorial
board backed by the active support of the executive council members of the
Samiti made it possible and the legacy still continues. S/ Shri A. N.
Kaul, A.K. Kaul, Gopi Nath Raina, Shashi Shekhar Toshkhani, T.N.Dhar (Kundan)
D. P. Bhan, M.L. Bhat, and J.N.Dhar looked after English section from time to
time. Prof. C.L.Sapru, whom I requested to take up Hindi section, the day he
retired from his teaching job, he was gracious enough to accept the
responsibility. Kashmiri section of Samachar was edited by Sh. S.N. Bhat
(Haleem). Printer & Publisher of the Samachar was Pandit P.N. Bhat. During nineties Sh. Shanti Bhan, Business
Manager and Sh. A.K.Fotedar, Circulation Manager, Koshur Samachar, did notable
service in bringing up the magazine and making itself supporting. Present team
S/Sh. Jagannath Dhar, Avtar Nehru, Editor English, M.K.Bhat (Nirdhan), Editor
Hindi, and Maharaj Shah, Editor Kashmiri. Printer & Publisher Pandit
N.N.Zijoo is another dedicated bunch.
Apart from regular Samachar issues,
we came up with Special Issues of Koshur Samachar, like Saint and Sages and
many more from time to time. Wondahama special issue of Samachar was my hard
work.
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