The Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits) are one of the few communities of great antiquity who have been victimized and oppressed for almost seven centuries for adhering to their ancestral faith, Hinduism, and preserving their cultural heritage despite extreme odds.
The history of Kashmiri Hindus can be traced back to nearly six thousand years beginning in 3450 CE. Our rich heritage and culture weigh more meaning to us than our life. We have been tormented, molested, mortified harassed suppressed muted humiliated subdued oppressed exploited tortured throughout the course of our history. Our community has faced many persecutors starting from Shah Mir in 1339AD to Sikandar Miri, 1413AD where he destroyed many of our big Hindu temples like Martandesvara(Pandav Larian) near Mattan which was built by Lalitaditya(719-760AD), three at Parihasapura, Tarapitha temples in Iskandapora, Srinagar. He destroyed idols, and shrines imposed taxes on pandits and strenuously converted them to Islam by force which earned him the title BUT-SHIKAN. It was in his rein the Hindus were asked to remove the sacred thread. He initiated the first wave of the exodus of many Pandits from the valley.
Though some petty relief could be seen in the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin (1420-70) who resettled some of the Pandit families in the Valley at the request of Shri Bhat who was a Pandit himself (a surgeon) and had treated Zain crippling boil on his body which could not be cured by any Hakeem even those who were invited from as far as Persia.
Mughals (1589-1750) were no different from their predecessors. Shahjahan and Aurangzeb continued the atrocities on Pandits resulting in the plight of many Hindu families on the plains of India. Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikh people had approached Aurangzeb and requested him to put an end to the forced conversion of Kashmiri pandits to Islam but was killed by him, however. From (1751-1820) Kashmir fell into the hands of Afghan Durranis during which all Kashmiris were repressed.
It was during the Dogra era (1846-1947) that the Pandits witnessed some respite after decades of persecution. This comfort, however, was short-lived and the long battle for our existence began once again with the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. Kashmiri Pandits were once more reduced to second class citizens. The Pandits argued that they needed protection against the overbearing of the majority community but were never heard of. It is no secret that Kashmiri Leadership considered us an unfriendly lot, as evidenced by denying us the minority status. The authoritarian regime looked through the fog of doubt and called us Indian spies, in turn forcing many Pandit families to leave the valley and seek a livelihood elsewhere, hence another exodus.
A new chapter on communal violence was written in the late 90s. The year 1986 saw communal violence in the Anantnag district in south Kashmir. Many KPs were targeted and a number of temples were ransacked and desecrated. As a result, the KP community was suddenly instilled with fear and bewilderment, triggering another exodus from Kashmir. The frequency of killings increased after the brutal cold-blooded murder of Tika Lal Taploo Ji on September 14, 1989. Such heinous planned acts of terror continued during that period thereby killing as many as 1341 Kashmiri Pandits. The J&K state government deliberately reduced the number of Pandits killed by militants below 200 to escape the censure by the UN which recognises killing beyond 200 as genocide. The hate campaign and inhuman means of violence once again struck fear among the KPs leaving them with only one option mass exodus.
In additionally to individual killings, KPs and other minority groups were also attacked in a number of devastating slaughters, including the Wandhama massacre in 1998 (23 Hindus), Prankote massacre in 1998 (26 Hindus), Chapnari massacre in 1998 (25 Hindus), Amarnath massacre in 2000 (30 Hindus), Kishtwar massacre in 2001 (19 Hindus), Nadimarg massacre in 2003 (24 Hindus), and Chittisingpura massacre in 2005 (35 Sikhs) are among those.
Such horrendous stories of barbaric killing made the very ground of Kashmir the soil of blood. Kashmiri Pandits have suffered a lot up to the extent that no government has the gumption to heal their wounds. It pays to be on the side of the oppressor in this country. The State and the Union government have declined to categorize Kps as internally displaced persons and are stuck to the nomenclature of “Migrants” as if the Pandits had migrated or would return out of their free will. Thirty-two years of exile still makes no promise of our return and the leadership rhetoric which maintains that Pandits are an inseparable part of Kashmiri society is sadistic and harms the war-wounded population.
No government in power has done anything concrete for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, the Pandits have no friends. This is a vanishing community. The government proudly talks of "vasudevam kutumbkam", despite its inhuman treatment of Kashmiri Pandits. This is by no means a pessimistic estimation; we must attempt to understand the ground situation. Displaced Kashmiri Pandits are treated like pawns on the political chessboard. We have no voice, no vote, no right, no land to call our own.
In spite of all the suffering we have endured, we have never chosen violence, we are inherently pacifists. We must stand united for what is ours and defend our rights to a peaceful life. We must strike together our intellect and mind to find the right direction and flourish once again without any fear or discrimination. We are a land of great scholars and should be free to learn from them. We are referred to as Bhatta meaning “ Great Scholar, a learned & wise person”. Among us lived the very first historian of the Indian subcontinent Kalhan Pandit who wrote Rajtarangini in 1147A.D, Shri Bhatt (a great Surgeon), Nityanand Shastri ( Academician), Pandit Govind Kaul (Great Scholar who rendered most valuable assistance to Aurel Stein in translating Rajatarangini), Pandit Mukund Ram Shastri ( Archeologist), Pandit Sahaz Bhat ( Legendary Unani Hakim), Pandit Prem Nath Shastri ( Great Vidvan), Veer Munshi ( Painter), Dina Nath Wali ( Renowned Painter) Dina Nath Nadim ( Poet) Subhash Kak ( Leading Expressionist Poet) among few.
Mughals (1589-1750) were no different from their predecessors. Shahjahan and Aurangzeb continued the atrocities on Pandits resulting in the plight of many Hindu families on the plains of India. Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikh people had approached Aurangzeb and requested him to put an end to the forced conversion of Kashmiri pandits to Islam but was killed by him, however. From (1751-1820) Kashmir fell into the hands of Afghan Durranis during which all Kashmiris were repressed.
It was during the Dogra era (1846-1947) that the Pandits witnessed some respite after decades of persecution. This comfort, however, was short-lived and the long battle for our existence began once again with the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. Kashmiri Pandits were once more reduced to second class citizens. The Pandits argued that they needed protection against the overbearing of the majority community but were never heard of. It is no secret that Kashmiri Leadership considered us an unfriendly lot, as evidenced by denying us the minority status. The authoritarian regime looked through the fog of doubt and called us Indian spies, in turn forcing many Pandit families to leave the valley and seek a livelihood elsewhere, hence another exodus.
A new chapter on communal violence was written in the late 90s. The year 1986 saw communal violence in the Anantnag district in south Kashmir. Many KPs were targeted and a number of temples were ransacked and desecrated. As a result, the KP community was suddenly instilled with fear and bewilderment, triggering another exodus from Kashmir. The frequency of killings increased after the brutal cold-blooded murder of Tika Lal Taploo Ji on September 14, 1989. Such heinous planned acts of terror continued during that period thereby killing as many as 1341 Kashmiri Pandits. The J&K state government deliberately reduced the number of Pandits killed by militants below 200 to escape the censure by the UN which recognises killing beyond 200 as genocide. The hate campaign and inhuman means of violence once again struck fear among the KPs leaving them with only one option mass exodus.
In additionally to individual killings, KPs and other minority groups were also attacked in a number of devastating slaughters, including the Wandhama massacre in 1998 (23 Hindus), Prankote massacre in 1998 (26 Hindus), Chapnari massacre in 1998 (25 Hindus), Amarnath massacre in 2000 (30 Hindus), Kishtwar massacre in 2001 (19 Hindus), Nadimarg massacre in 2003 (24 Hindus), and Chittisingpura massacre in 2005 (35 Sikhs) are among those.
Such horrendous stories of barbaric killing made the very ground of Kashmir the soil of blood. Kashmiri Pandits have suffered a lot up to the extent that no government has the gumption to heal their wounds. It pays to be on the side of the oppressor in this country. The State and the Union government have declined to categorize Kps as internally displaced persons and are stuck to the nomenclature of “Migrants” as if the Pandits had migrated or would return out of their free will. Thirty-two years of exile still makes no promise of our return and the leadership rhetoric which maintains that Pandits are an inseparable part of Kashmiri society is sadistic and harms the war-wounded population.
No government in power has done anything concrete for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, the Pandits have no friends. This is a vanishing community. The government proudly talks of "vasudevam kutumbkam", despite its inhuman treatment of Kashmiri Pandits. This is by no means a pessimistic estimation; we must attempt to understand the ground situation. Displaced Kashmiri Pandits are treated like pawns on the political chessboard. We have no voice, no vote, no right, no land to call our own.
In spite of all the suffering we have endured, we have never chosen violence, we are inherently pacifists. We must stand united for what is ours and defend our rights to a peaceful life. We must strike together our intellect and mind to find the right direction and flourish once again without any fear or discrimination. We are a land of great scholars and should be free to learn from them. We are referred to as Bhatta meaning “ Great Scholar, a learned & wise person”. Among us lived the very first historian of the Indian subcontinent Kalhan Pandit who wrote Rajtarangini in 1147A.D, Shri Bhatt (a great Surgeon), Nityanand Shastri ( Academician), Pandit Govind Kaul (Great Scholar who rendered most valuable assistance to Aurel Stein in translating Rajatarangini), Pandit Mukund Ram Shastri ( Archeologist), Pandit Sahaz Bhat ( Legendary Unani Hakim), Pandit Prem Nath Shastri ( Great Vidvan), Veer Munshi ( Painter), Dina Nath Wali ( Renowned Painter) Dina Nath Nadim ( Poet) Subhash Kak ( Leading Expressionist Poet) among few.
Pic Credit: artsbyasheesh@instagram
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