KASHMIR- THE FROZEN MEMORIES

The Valley Of Rishis ,Seers n Sufi’s ..The Abode of Sharada –epitome of highest knowledge and wisdom was struck silent with the mass murder of Kashmiri Pandits .

It was month of January  1990 ,all of a sudden there was mass gathering on street outside our home & people were shouting slogans  “ Yahan chalega Nizam-e-mustafa ,Kashmir banega Pakistan ,Kafiro Kashmir hamara chod do “ and throwing stones at our home, breaking window panes. I was small to realise what was happening and why was it happening..And what are they going to get by pelting stones & breaking our windows..I remember that evening we had to switch off lights of all our rooms & we had dinner in the dim light of big size radio that my grandfather had got.

19^th of January 1990 Kashmiri Pandits were asked to leave the valley..Audio tape was played in all the mosques in Kashmir after which kashmiri muslims came on streets burnt houses belonging to kashmiri pandits .Total Anarchy & to add to that  Benazir Bhutto ignited them for anarchy in her venomous speech that she gave in Pakistan .There was full page advertisement in local newspaper asking  kashmiri pandits to leave in 2 days otherwise you will be killed.

It was in 1989 they had started selective killing of Kashmiri Pandit Leaders, They first killed Tika Lal Taploo who was a lawyer by profession and had been in politics for long. He enjoyed immense popularity as a social and political activist. He was put to bullets by the armed killers of JKLF. His assassination came as a shock to large sections of Kashmiri population. His funeral procession was stoned . He was the Vice President of the J&K Unit of Bhartiya Janata Party. This was followed by killing of Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo,,& Advocate Prem Nath Bhat,all pillars of kashmiri pandit community.

Threatening letters were pasted on doors asking Kashmiri Pandits to leave Kashmir for ever & if you don’t your houses will be burnt. And stone pelting on houses of kashmiri pandits had become routine.Once there was a fierce gun battle between Militants & Army near our house,..In between this the Army came to our home & wanted to target these terrorists from 5^th floor of our home as our home was near the chowk & it was easy for army to identify from top where the terrorists are firing from. Once this gunfire battle was over the army left..Next day the note was put on door of our home saying that since you helped the army you will be gunned down & the house will be burnt..Many attempts were made to burn our home .Somehow we managed to save our house n our lives that day.

I remember all the kashmiri pandits in our locality had migrated and left their homes,but we were staying put.There was a mosque near our home wherein everyday they used to announce & threaten that if we don’t leave they will set our house on fire and kill us..This continued for 2-3 weeks..Finally my father decided that children need to be sent to aunts house at jammu  & we were packed in a car late night & sent to Jammu..It happened to be my birthday around that time but i didn’t rejoice it at all as i always awaited my birthday ,we used to have Pooja on my birthday ,home used to be thronged with guests for lunch & loads of gifts but this time it was not the same. And i never returned to my home in valley after that.

Kashmiri Pandits were subjected to horrendous torture deaths..Teachers, poets, scholars,leaders, lawyers, nurses, officers, – irrespective of logic were gunned down from close range – just because they were Hindus..Terrorists   resorted to barbaric methods that will cause shiver down the spine of the worst enemies. Burning cigarettes were applied to the naked bodies of Kashmiri Pandits. Boiling wax was poured on  their bodies. Nails were driven into their foreheads. Their eye-balls were gouged out and tongues chopped off. Women were ripped into two equal parts on a wood-slicing machine. Gangrapes were resorted to. Bellies were ripped open . Hairs from the heads were plucked out. They were hanged and bullets pumped into their bodies. Kidneys were extracted . Brains were hammered. All barbaric. This horrific torture was done to exterminate Kashmiri Pandits from the soil of Kashmir.

Kashmiri pandits had to flee there homeland leaving behind everything..Indians refugees in their own country.It was one of the biggest exoduses in Indian history. Kashmiri Pandits were killed enmass. Properties of Kashmiri Pandits were looted and gutted to fire. Hindu temples were demolished in Kashmir.

 Kashmiri Pandits believed in democracy .Kashmiri Pandit was called Mukhbir ( An Indian Agent)..Kashmiri Pandit was persecuted at all levels but never became terrorist.

Kashmiri pandits protested vehemently but Indian Parliament remained silent, Secularists were silent, Human Rights Activists remained Silent,. Intellectuals remained Silent..World remained Silent.. and World continues to remain silent as we enter 26 years of exile.