DOST KHAN
Jammu: Do Kashmiri Pandits really have a role in rebuilding Kashmir? Two-and-a-half decades after their forced exile if they are asked to face new situation in the Valley on the face of flood devastation, given their potential which they displayed in emancipation of the society before being hounded out, Kashmiri Pandits have a reason to feel shocked and surprised. Lurching in wilderness, they have known during their years of exile how unwanted they were back home after the onset of radicalized culture in early nineties and how Kashmir-centric leadership has been treating them as a liability even after losing their roots and identity.
Remembering Kashmiri Pandits in the midst of crisis unfolded by natural calamity is nonetheless a pleasant surprise. They are not, however, so naïve, not to understand the compulsion behind verbosity of political clan.
With Assembly elections likely to be conducted as per schedule later this year, politicians of Jammu and Kashmir have started wooing voters by reminding them of their crucial importance. Peoples’ Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti has taken the lid, and lead as well, by reminding Kashmiri Pandits of their role in emancipating Kashmir society.
“We have enough bitterness and misgivings between us along community and sectarian lines but our coming generation has to work on our strong bonds of amity that have defined Kashmir through ages,” Mehbooba Mufti told KPs while hurriedly admitting that it is compulsion of “our time that new generation has to seek employment and growth opportunity all over the world irrespective of their religious backing”. This is half truth, which PDP and other Kashmir-centric parties like National Conference and Congress better understand, sooner the better. Had it been so with all communities and all the regions, the number of employees in the 7,000 staffed-Civil Secretariat from Jammu would not have just 200. Kashmiri Pandits don’t count at all. Therefore, saying that fending for jobs outside the State is a common phenomenon in Jammu and Kashmir is not only misleading but mischievous as well.
While PDP President has invoked the ‘strong bonds of amity’ to inspire ‘coming generations’, she has forgotten that almost two generations in the Valley, belonging to both the communities, have grown up in an atmosphere of mistrust and hatred. The politicians have only aggravated the situation for their petty interests instead of bridging the gap. How would PDP or NC explain rolling of red carpet to the terrorists, whom they fondly call ‘misguided youth’, for their role in engineering exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990? The generation Mehbooba Mufti is talking about is at the verge of extinction. They have lived horrible 25 years of their exile in swallowing bitter pills of condemnation and watching the remains of ancestors getting trampled at the hands of those who keep saying, “Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits”.
Thronging the doorsteps of migrant habitations in Jammu is a compulsion for Kashmir-centric politicians as Pandits have a decisive role in several Assembly constituencies in the Valley, especially in view of imminent boycott at the behest of secessionists, Pakistani terrorists and separatists. Take for instance Habba Kadal constituency in Srinagar, which has 24,000 migrant votes, the polling during the past three elections has been average 2,000 votes. In case of boycott, which is most likely, the KPs can be a factor to determine the results. Almost similar is scenario in Amirakadal with 12,000 KP votes and Sopore having 6,000 votes. In several other constituencies in Baramulla and Anantnag districts, the Pandit vote assumes significance due to apprehended boycott.
While invoking the traditional past of Kashmiri Pandits, the so-called mainstream leaders owe explanation to several questions which continue to haunt the community even after one-fourth of the century. Will they answer who caused the devastation in Dhanaw and Wanpoh villages of Anantnag in 1986? Who burnt the ancient Loka Bhavan Temple that year? Who instigated the then Mirwaiz of South Kashmir Qazi Nissar to slaughter eleven sheep in Annantnag’s Lal Chowk on the auspicious occasion of Janamashtami in 1986 to show they care two hoots for the religious sentiments of any community? This all was done to get rid of a particular government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmiri Pandits would have perhaps been saved from leaving their homes and hearths, had the militancy not been glorified by releasing five terrorist commanders on 13th December 1989 in lieu of the release of Rubaiya Sayed, daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayed. Thousands of youngsters had gathered at Rajouri Kadal to take the terrorists in a triumphant procession. This was the occasion when terrorism got glorified as Jihad, leaving little space for ‘infields’ (as terrorists were calling non-Muslims) in the land of their ancestors.