Friday, May 16, 2008

And Omar Speaks.....

"We were mute spectators"



A Times Now Report

Two decades after the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, National conference President Omar Abdullah has spoken up, saying that Muslims including him shouldn't have been mute spectators during the exodus."It is a fact that the majority of us - and I include myself in it - the majority of us Kashmiris remained mute spectators when the Kashmiri Pandits left. And even though now we may want to talk about their return, at that time perhaps we did not do as much as should have been done," said Omar on Thursday (May 15).While the timing of his statement is questionable, what cannot be discounted is the fact that this is the first time a mainstream Kashmiri politician has spoken so strongly about the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. Whether it's Rajya Sabha ticket that Omar is eyeing or a sudden prick of consience, the feeling of being refugees in their own country is not a one that the Pandits are likely to forget soon.At the height of militancy in Jammu & Kashmir in 1990, propaganda from Pakistan laced with the militancy of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation front forced lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits out the valley leaving thousands homeless, and forcing them into exile. In his statement, which first appeared on his blog, Omar Abdullah even chatises himself for not speaking up on the genocide, lamenting the fact that none of them stood up and had the courage to say the atrocities must stop. "It's so easy to say that we"ll lay down our lives to bring Kashmiri Pandits back to the valley and I appreciate the sentiment. Pity that sentiment was missing when our mosques were being used to drive these people out. None of us said this is wrong and the Kashmiri Pandits had every right to continue living in the valley. We were mute spectators either mute in agreement or mute in abject fear, but mute none the less," he writes.While this is the first time a mainstream Kashmiri politician has spoken so strongly on the plight of these Kashmiri Pandits, Omar's sentiments will not make the Kashmiri Pandits forget the feeling of being refugees in their own country, just yet.(By Mir Fareed)

7 comments:

Bhavya Ketan said...

NEGATIONISTS AGAINST NEGATIONISM
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Why Kashmiri Pandits always think that the "world" is responsible for driving them out of the Kashmir Valley? They left the valley because they didn't have the courage to fight against the Islamists. Since the invasion of Islam in Kashmir, Pandits are crying about the atrocities committed on them by the Muslims. But they never care to battle it out with their enemies. Their common reply to this question is, "We are so few in number." Well, will somebody tell them the number of people who did the 9/11 or the group of people who led the attack on the Bharatiya Parliament in 2001 and the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya in 2005? Kashmiri Pandits know how to die for their religion. But they have yet to learn how to kill to defend their faith.
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The Kashmiri Pandit community not only believes in non-violence but in "aggressive non-violence". Even extremist speech is not allowed in their struggle. If the way is not non-violence then it is against their character. Violence is like conduct unbecoming of a Kashmiri Pandit. Their way is that of protests, demonstrations, war of words, and leaving no stone unturned to grab as much media coverage as possible with as little effort as possible.
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Pandits are experts in blame game. Who is to held responsible for their situation? Indian government, Indians, Islamists, Kashmiri Muslims, Jammu and Kashmir state government, Pakistan, Hindus, United States, international community, and the list goes on. For them the whole world is responsible for their problems. Pandits think that they are the divine creatures sent by the gods for the whole humanity. The human race is responsible for their well being.
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It is this attitude that makes them a thankless people. They will say nobody has done anything for them even after getting huge amount of physical and monetary benefits from the central government and enjoying reservations in various educational institutions of Bharatvarsh under "Kashmiri Migrant" quota.
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Pandits have proved to be nothing more than paper tigers. A community who wants others to fight for it. Well, many people ARE ready to fight for the rights of Kashmir Hindus. But there is a catch. Pandits also want their sympathizers to respectfully identify them as Kashmiri Pandits not as a Hindu or even as Brahmans. A Pandit is a Pandit, and a Pandit he shall ever be.
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For the last 18 years Kashmiri Pandits have failed to associate themselves with the rest of the Hindus, forget about the other Brahman or, for that matter, forward classes of the country. May be their Pandit identity is more important than any other thing. For them Kashmiri Panditism is more important than Hinduism and Kashmir is more important than India. It is because of this psychology that the Pandit cause has not been able to become a Hindu cause. And there are very less chances of it becoming one in the near future.
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The Pandit community is telling the whole world how others are responsible for their "forceful exodus". But will they ever tell us how they themselves were responsible for their migration? Unlike many other Hindus, why didn't they learn from the history? Aren't they practising the same negationism which they have always protested against?
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Copyright: www.anaryasviews.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Bhavya...

You have roads right in the center of Delhi by the name of Aurangzeb...dont preach...look inwards

Anonymous said...

Kashmiri pandits are part of vast kashmiri family.My pandit friends of past remember me now of their longing for their mother land,but some of their leaders lead them to astray for their own ends.Pandit elders should make their community aware of this fact that if they fell victim of some leaders follies for making them fodder for vote politics then within few decades their offsprings will be a mixed race by intermarrying with others.Their race and culture will vanish in the mass of indian human ocean like a drop.

Ajaz Ahmed Kashmiri said...

I agree with the above comment. I must say that Kashmiri pundits must return to their homeland and remain peaceful.I only advise them not to take sides with anyone and remain happy in Kashmir. If they promise, trust me, I will be at the frontlne to support them. Kashmiris Pundits are welcome to their homeland. Sincerely.....

Anonymous said...

Well u people calling kp as cowards will shortly have a reply.We ruled from bengal,tibet to turkey i must remind u that we are waiting for right time .

Anonymous said...

Bhavna, y r u n kps crying foul. .d0n't understnd y even a debate over kps. They have ch0sen their destiny, then y cry n0w. .oh yes they gotta keep cribing n shout "foulplay" always to justify the alms they r previledged to in the form of g0vt. Relief, quotas etc. There r many pandit n sikh families living safely in kashmir.But those who r'nt hav ch0sen to, b'coz of lucrative career/educatn oppurtunities. .they shud stand up atleast n hav balls to accept this selfish oppurtunism n stop to quote uncertainty of 90's after 20 yrs

Unknown said...

one thing that i really cant understand is that why the protests and all other dramas for "azad kashmir" happen only in indian part of kashmir,with kinda shithole pakistan is,i seriously doubt your own people are enjoying their life in pok,so why the indian part of kashmir is always in headline.you know i would have been more than happy to make kashmir "azad",seriously there are many states who really deserve the economic and administrative benefit which is being given to this state,give kashmir to kashmiris,keep ladakh and jammu region.and you know one of the most used words in this blog are "hindu",muslims,pandits.comon guys get a life,u still believe the words of few egomaniacs born thousands of years back,fuck the religion,use logic for arguement,keep your emotions and reigious bullshits in control.