During the course of time,
I discovered something called Dhimmis, and while it shocked me, I could clearly
see that we the Kashmiri Pandits were being treated as Dhimmis. What does
Dhimmi mean? Dhimmis are non Islamic minorities in a Muslim majority state,
living in a recognized subordinate legal status. If I put it simply, Dhimmis
are second grade citizens.
The Islam prohibits the Dhimmis and minorities from:
1.
Wearing clothes that do not make them
recognizable
2.
Constructing big houses or owning
estates
3.
Marrying Muslim women
4.
Holding important public positions
5.
Practising their religion in public
& constructing religious structures
Yes, with modernisation these restrictions have somewhat eased in rest
of the world, but not in an important state of the Socialist, Secular Republic
of India, the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The
Kashmiri Pandits have been facing persecution for many centuries and have been
treated as Dhimmis by both barbaric Islamic rulers and the elected
representatives of Kashmir in free India.
Immediately after coming to power in
1947, Mohammed Sheikh Abdullah, the then Prime Minister and grandfather of the
current CM immediately implemented the first principle of Dhimmi code. He
confiscated the lands of Kashmiri Pandits and redistributed them for free to
the Muslims of the state. This was done under the garb of ‘Land for Tiller act’
and surprisingly implemented with full vigour in the Kashmir Valley only, where
the Hindus are in minority.
The
Kashmiri Pandits persecution qualifies Dhimmi treatment in every sense. The
Pandits are not allowed to hold any important political post and for last few decades
not even a single Kashmiri Pandit has been given election ticket by the Muslim
dominated parties of Kashmir. The Kashmiri Pandits are not even nominated to
the upper house of the legislature and making them a minister is not even a
dream that can be seen.
I
remember last year the CM of Kashmir, Omar Abdullah tried scoring political
point by criticising Narendra Modi for not giving election ticket to any Muslim
in his state. On being confronted, on how many Kashmiri Pandits were given
tickets by Omar Abdullah’s party, the CM had no answer.
While I was in the valley, honestly
I do not remember any Kashmiri Pandit boy marrying a Kashmiri Muslim girl. Yes,
I knew many falling for each other but never marrying. The Kashmiri Pandit boy
knew that if
he dared to marry a Muslim girl, not
only him but his entire family would be butchered. While on the contrary it was quite
common to kidnap a Pandit girl and forcefully marry and convert her. In the
famous
Parmeshwari case, such was the open discrimination
that even the state machinery ensured the parents do not meet the girl; alas
the truth may come out.
The persecution of minorities
reached to such an extent that the Muslim fanatics openly started killing the
minorities and raping their women. By Jan 1990 almost every Pandit home in
Kashmir was on the hit list of Islamic fanatics, and its prominent
personalities were assassinated almost every day. The Dhimmis of Kashmir were
warned to move out the valley or get killed. The common slogan of the Muslim
fanatics was “we want Kashmir without Hindus but with their women”.
The Muslim majority govt of the
valley turned a blind eye to these atrocities or pleaded helplessness. And by
the first few weeks of 1990, the entire Kashmir valley was bereft of its only
prominent minority, the Kashmiri Pandits. The exodus of the
Pandits saw the execution of the last principle of Dhimmi law, prohibition
of minority religious practice and destruction of minority religious
institutions. Slowly the temples are being desecrated and lands belonging to
these temples are being forcefully taken over. Many prominent temples are in
ruins and efforts to rebuild them are seeing resistance from the fanatic
population of the valley. As usual, the Muslim controlled government of the
valley is also ensuring that the lands are usurped by the Muslims land mafia
and all the symbols of Hinduism are wiped out.
The Kashmiri Pandits now almost for
a decade have been trying to push
“Temple & Shrine Bill” to save their religious institutions.
The bill just asks for an institution similar to Muslim Aukaf Trust, which
allows Muslims to run their religious institutions in a better and safe way.
The mentality of not providing
religious freedom has made the state government form innovate ways to block the
bill. Constant request, appeals and protest have fallen to deaf ear. The mindset
of denying the minority of their religious right can be gauged from the actions
of Mustafa Kamal, the senior member of the ruling party and uncle of the
current CM, Omar Abdullah. Mustafa Kamal wants an amendment to the bill, where
he wants the amendment to include Muslims to be part of running and managing
Hindu Temples. Now the bill has been send to a standing committee for further
study, almost after 8 years of it being introduced in the legislature.
With such delaying tactics, the
government of Kashmir has reconfirmed that few mind-sets just don’t change
. And yes, even in a Hindu
majority, secular nation like India, Dhimmis do exist.
