Unlucky Kashmiri Pandits

Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits started way before January 19, 1990. Many families had already left Kashmir after the killing of senior Kashmiri Pandit leader Pt. Tika Lal Taploo on September 14, 1989. However, January 19 onwards about 99.0 percent of the Kashmiri Pandit families left valley for places unknown to them earlier, leaving everything behind, marking the largest displacement in the history of India post partition. Each year, symbolically, Kashmiri Pandits mark January 19 as the day of their exile (Holocaust Day) from their homes. On January 19, 2012 KPs will complete 22 years in exile and the return to their homes still doesn’t seem possible in near future.

Kashmiri Pandits are an unlucky lot, and not because they lost their homes, children lost their childhood and elders their cremation ground. But, even after 22 years in exile the country has failed to take cognizance of the offences done against them.

National Human Rights Commission was formed in 1993; three years after KPs had lost their homes. There was no national human rights group to take understand and take action against their complaints. Not a single prosecution has happened against excesses done against KPs.

They now are the unknowns in the Kashmir equation though they are the worst sufferers as a community. Take for example, media did cover PM announcing the relief package for KPs, but failed to take cognizance of the fact that not a single KP family has returned back. KPs are unlucky that mainstream media sometimes has different yard-stick for judging our issues. No mainstream media channel covers January 19, as it does for December 6 or February 27.

KPs are unlucky that the social media space was non-existent in 1990s and technology revolution was yet to come. Lot of evidence could have been collected if all that existed. Today, revolutions take place through social media. Governments have been toppled and state heads prosecuted through activism on the social media space.

However, the biggest culprits of our exodus remain the central and the state governments, which have failed KPs for 22 years now and will continue to do that for foreseeable future. Take for example; they are a religious minority in Kashmir. Ruling party is planning a quota with Lok Pal to make sure all minorities get representation. However, the same party is in power in Kashmir for ten years now but failed to provide representation to Kashmiri Pandits in the government and the even in the legislative assembly. KPs are a victim of selective amnesia of the governments of this country.

Whatever, be the odds they have survived and continue to fight for the cause they believe in. They enter the 23^rd year in exile hoping that they will celebrate the next Haerath (Shivratri) in their actual homes. Even though a far-fetched hope!