The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits

19th Jan 1990 is holocaust day for Kashmiri Pandits (KPs).

An indigenous community that was killed. Women were raped, looted and thrown out of their homes. A community that faced constant persecution from 1320 to till the end of the Afghan rule. They were oppressed for more than 500 years. After Independence, The Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, 1950 in Kashmir was a radical land reform law that exploited KP’s . Nearly 20 percent of KP’s left the valley.

After the 1975 Sheikh Abdullah-Indira Gandhi accord Sheikh Abdullah was again made CM of J&K. Kashmiris and some religious organisations were against this accord. Sheikh Abdullah changed the names of more than 2000 villages from their native names to Islamic names. He started to give provocative speeches on Friday prayers in the Mosque. He started to call KP’s as Mukhbir i.e agents of India. Then Pakistan utilised this golden opportunity instead of sending terrorists from their land they started to recruit local Kashmiris for jihad against KP’s & Armed forces.

Pakistan’s ISI was inspired by the Soviet war in Afghanistan where they recruited locals to fight against the Soviet army. JKLF(Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front), Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir etc communalised the issue. In the year 1984 Maqbool Bhat (one of the founders of JKLF) was hanged it lead a wide-scale protest in the valley Security forces controlled the situation at the time Ghulam Mohammed Shah got support from Indira Gandhi and forced Farooq Abdullah to resign CM post and he eventually becomes the CM.

At the time people were unhappy with proceedings so Ghulam Mohammed Shah started to take help from religious preachers i.e Moulvis. In 1986 Ghulam Shah decided to build a mosque in temple premises in the secretariat in Jammu; this led to mass protests in Jammu. Shah, when returned to Kashmir, made a provocative speech and said “Islam khatrey mein hai’?”. This led to massive communal violence where Kashmiri pandits were the primary targets. Due to the violence, his Government was dismissed by the Governor, again in 1987 election INC and NC rigged the election; this was the main reason for the rise in militancy in Kashmir.

Systematic killings of Kashmiri pandits began and they were specifically targeted because of their faith. In 1989 Tika Lal Taploo a prominent advocate and BJP leader was killed in broad daylight in Srinagar. Neelkanth Ganjoo, a High court judge who sentenced Maqbool Bhat to death, was killed. This instilled fear in Kashmiri pandits. On 4th Jan 1990 Aftab Newspaper published a warning to Kashmiri pandits to leave the valley or face death. Death Note, Posters, and hitlist were published in the valley. People were forced to change from IST to Pakistan standard time. Even Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto used to give provocative speeches and asked Kashmiri youths to join the insurgency and wage Jihad on India.

On the midnight of 19th Jan, electricity was cut in whole Kashmir valley except in Mosques and they were giving provocative and Inflammatory speech, huge rallies were conducted anti-India slogans were raised, KP’s men were asked to leave the valley and they were told to leave their women behind. They were given two options: either convert or Die. More than 3 lakhs left the valley. Masked men with AK-47 were roaming freely in the streets and people were cheering for them. They used to fire at Kashmiri pandits or Indian security forces. Shops, factories, temples and homes of Kashmiri Hindus were burned or destroyed. Kashmiri pandits became refugees in their own hometown and their property encroached. A KP man was killed by using drilling machine on his forehead because he was wearing a tilak, a woman was brutally raped for four days and the glass bottle was inserted in her genitals. A woman was forced to eat rice which was soaked with the blood of her husband. A lot of women were raped in front of their family members. They were not killed by a terrorist from Pakistan they were killed by their childhood friends or neighbors.

After the genocide, KP’s settled in Jammu, Delhi. They faced the worst situation; there was no proper hygiene, no bathrooms , no tents . Some of them even died due to snake bites. Their children’s education was in disarray. Govt officials in J&K were reluctant to support them. Finally, Balasaheb Thackery Ji assisted them in education even though the central Govt gave admission in KV’s.

Not many of us know about Kashmiri pandit genocide as there was no media coverage, no outcry from liberals or public even Indian Government had failed. Till date KP Genocide is not recognised. But yes, After the “The Kashmir files” movie release now people will encounter the hard truth which was under the carpet for years and it is important to know about our history and accept the unfortunate events that happened in previous years. Never forgive, Never forget!