Justice Delayed, Justice Denied - Zee News

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Modasa Pradesh Brahm Samaj, Gujarat organized a public session on "The facts and feelings about Kashmiri Pandits"

Modasa Pradesh Brahm Samaj, Gujarat
organized a public session on "The facts and feelings about Kashmiri Pandits" on 24th February, 2018 at Modasa, Gujrat, where hundreds of people assembled to pledge their support to the Kashmiri Pandit cause. The session had Roots in Kashmir activists, Sh. Sushil Pandit and Sh. Amit Raina adressing the gathering. While Amit Raina spoke about the fast losing identity of Kashmiri Pandits and encroachment of Temples, Sushil Pandit higlighted the pain and struggle of Kashmiri Pandits in both pre and post exodus days. He also highlighted the broken promises of succesive governments in getting Kashmiri Pandits their homes back with justice and dignity. He requested people of Gujarat to force their representatives to push the government in Delhi to not succumb to the pressures of PDP and the love of power.

Sh. Jogender Upadhyay, from the Madosa Brahm Samaj assured Kashmiri Pandits of support from all people of Gujarat, especially from the 65 lakh Brahmin Community.

Modasa Brahm Samaj also passed a resolution covering the following points:

1.  Abolishing Article 370 and 35 (A)

2. Kashmiri Pandits are the aborigines of Kashmir valley; they should get the status of Native (Schedule Tribe) and Minority for the protection of their religious and ethnic rights.

3. To immediately establish a Kashmiri Pandit’s Commission for the purpose of social justice and legislative empowerment of Kashmiri Pandits

4. To appoint two members in state legislative assembly and one member in Rajya-sabha from the Kashmiri Pandit community. To allocate separate district for their safe rehabilitation in the Kashmir valley.

5.The names of the ancient villages, towns, religious places and monuments of the Kashmir Valley should not be changed.

6. Temples and religious places in the Kashmir valley are heritage of Indian culture therefore the “Temple and Shrine Protection Bill' should be implemented immediately to stop the encroachment of temple land and premises
                                                                                
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Centre should initiate dialogue with Pandits: Panun Kashmir

NHRC should change its name to National Hindu Reprimand Commission: PKM

Staff Reporter

The Hindu

Central, State Governments accused of being “indifferent” towards community

NEW DELHI: Panun Kashmir Movement, a faction seeking a separate homeland for Kashmiri Pandits, on Tuesday said the Central Government should take immediate steps to initiate a dialogue with the displaced community.

A PKM delegation led by its president Ashwani K. Chrungoo accused the governments at the Centre and the State of being “indifferent” to the Pandits and said any talks to resolve the Kashmir problem would be inconclusive without the participation of the minority community.

"During the time of the exodus, the State and the Central government were indifferent to us (Pandits). And in the past 18 years not much has changed. It is high time that the Central Government begins a dialogue with us,” said Mr. Chrungoo, who is currently in Delhi leading a “Sankalp Yatra” aimed at drawing attention to the issues of displacement and human rights violation of the minorities in Kashmir.

Mr. Chungroo said the community feels let down by the State Administration as well as by the National Human Rights Commission. “We have been demanding that till the time a separate homeland is provided to the minorities in Kashmir, Pandits should be identified as internally displaced people and provided aid as is mandated by the United Nations,” he added.“Realise the plight”

He said the entire country needs to wake up to the plight of the Pandits and perceive the Kashmir problem as a “question of national security”.

“Everything in Kashmir has been affected by fundamentalism and terrorist activities. So severe has been the impact that even the ecology has not been spared,” Mr. Chungroo said. “This Sankalp Yatra that began on November 11 from Srinagar will travel to nine States and create awareness about such issues.”

Panun Kashmir has been seeking a separate homeland for Pandits in the North and East of river Jhelum, which will be governed by the Indian Constitution.

The yatra began from Sheetalnath, on the banks of the Jhelum, and has already covered Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir. It will now head to Jaipur and move to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

UNI and Greater Kashmir add:

New Delhi, Dec 4: Lashing out at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Kashmiri Pandits today called for changing its name to ‘National Hindu Reprimand Commission’ in view of its ‘’biased nature’’ and failure to address their grievances and problems for the past 18 years.

"Since 2000, the NHRC has ceased to exist for us. It works as a biased forum. It has failed not only constitutionally, but also that part of the Constitution under which it has been constituted. It has failed to come to the rescue of Kashmiri Pandits,’’ according to Ashwini Kumar, Chairman of Panun Kashmir Movement (PKM), a frontline organisation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants.

Godhra Carnage Vs. Pundits Exodus

By J. N. Raina

Syndicate Features

On-again, off-again nature of talk about 2002 Gujarat riots, on the heels of Godhra carnage, is preposterous. It is outrageous and disgusting to raise such issues, rendered irrelevant with the passage of time, to tarnish the image of India, booming with economic activity. It is disrespectful to the nation of one billion people.

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The so-called ‘Tehelka expose’ has, in fact, exposed the hollowness of pseudo-secularists, who flourish on such ‘gossip’. Such loose discussions, brought to the fore repeatedly, should be put to an end once for all. The drum-beaters of secularism are deliberately orchestrating of what they call ‘sting operation’, when the Assembly elections in Gujarat are approaching. It is the height of stupidity to claim that the ‘expose’ just ‘coincided’ with the announcement of the Assembly poll in Gujarat.

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In the first instance, such ‘exposures’ are politically-motivated. The ‘power hungry’ Congress politicians know when and how to operationalise their ‘mischievous designs’, how to indulge in dirty tricks and how to mould public opinion. They raise the bogey of Gujarat riots, without bothering to mention about Godhra mayhem, in which 58 Hindu Kar Sevaks were roasted alive while they were traveling in the Sabarmati Express. The reaction to Godhra was Gujarat riots.

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The question is what was the need to reopen healed up wounds. If it was needed at all, why ‘publicity’ was not given to these killings six months earlier? What was done is done; cannot be undone. No sane person will gloat over the killings or justify them.

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But raising such issues repeatedly cannot be justified. More so since the secularists across the country did not bother to talk about the gruesome killings of nearly 1200 Kashmiri Hindus in early 1990 and later in sporadic incidents of ethnic cleansing. These killings and the resultant mass exodus of 5, 00,000 Hindus from Kashmir Valley are a blot on the Indian democracy.

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Hardly 15,000 Hindus are left in the valley now. Have they no right to live in their land of birth? Have they no democratic rights? The Human Rights organizations and the Amnesty International are just feigning ignorance about the apathetic conditions of the Kashmiri Hindus. So far the Indian Government’s internal policy priorities are concerned human rights of Kashmiri Pundits have been locked in the boot.

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Since there is so much talk about post-Godhra carnage by secularists, may I ask them why they are not equally strident in the case of Kashmiri Hindus’ plight. Why don’t they pause for a while to wonder what was the fault of the Kashmiri Hindus to be marginalised and neglected in their own country? What crime had they committed against the majority Muslim community in the Valley?

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After the mass exodus, their houses were looted and set on fire. Temples and other places of worship were burnt down. The Hindus were compelled to dispose off their properties at throwaway prices, so that they don’t dare to return to the Valley. Is this secularism? Is this democracy? No eyebrows were raised about the pogrom of the Kashmiri Hindus.

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For Kashmiri Hindus, secularism has been buried in the graveyards of Kashmir. The moderate Muslims were helpless as the radicals are holding the sway. And they just advised the ‘Hindu brethren’ to leave for lack of security.

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To cap it all, some maverick writers believe that killings of Muslims in Gujarat, as exposed by Tehelka, should not be suppressed. Does it mean, what has happened to Kashmiri Hindus and non-Kashmiri Hindus, who had also settled there for decades, should be suppressed? It is shameful. Why was not any commission set up to go into the killings and forcible exodus of Kashmiri Hindus?

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Why are there one-sided sting operations? Is it not a new weapon in the hands of the secularists to divide the society on communal lines, keeping in mind the vote bank policy?

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The authorities in Godhra, soon after the mayhem, had made an unsavoury statement that those who had burnt alive the karsevaks were “uneducated, without jobs and poor. Most of them, called Ghanchi Muslims, live in poverty and have no economic activity” How amazing? The Godhra officials were forced to make confusing statements to suppress the truth about Godhra.

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These tactics are sure to boomerang and destroy the age-old residual communal harmony. They should realize such exposures will retaliate on them, just like terrorism has boomeranged on Pakistan. Dr Sachidananda Sinha has well said: “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.

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Maverick writer Farzana Versey argues that the cause of Kashmiri Hindus has been romanticized. In a recent news paper article, “Fission Kashmir” (September 7, 2007) she remarks: “Unlike the 140 terrorist groups, the Pandit lobby is strong. It can organize itself. Displaced Pundits are now demanding reservations in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature and government jobs, as well as setting up of three townships in the Valley for their rehabilitation”. What is wrong in making these demands?

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Unlike Versey, some Pakistan journalists appear to sympathise with Kashmiri Pundits. They visited the migrant camps in Jammu and saw things for themselves. They have taken up the cudgels for speaking the truth. For the past 17 years, the Pundit community has lost its cultural moorings. They have lost their identity as an ethnic group, and are unable to preserve their traditions and customs.

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Some Indian journalists are talking about ‘nailing the guilty of Gujarat’. Their response is based on Tehelka’s investigations, which, according to them, has ‘provided evidence on tapes ‘of stories relating to the Muslims’ killings by top functionaries of the BJP and Sangh Parivar.

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Well, if that is indeed the case, what about nailing known JKLF activist Bitta Karatay, who, in a recent TV interview had claimed responsibility for killing scores of Hindus, with many more on his hit-list. He was in jail for 16 years on the charge of murdering a score of Kashmiri Hindus.

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The Supreme Court has released Karatay recently for ‘want of evidence’.

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Courtesy: Asian Tribune

Freedom Song - by Rhythma Kaul (in Mail Today)

Rapper Hash sings of a lost land and the sorrow of the homeless, giving a new edge to the demands of Kashmiri refugeesThe first thing you want to know about rapper Emcee Hash is what his name stands for. It’s ‘Heavily Affected by Smoking Herb’, typicalstreet lingo that you would expect a rapper to use. But then take a look at his lyrics and it sounds as if it is 80’s broken hearted reggae or pop that talks of the romance of revolution and struggle.“Live long, pray, our story recited /for y'all to hear /refugee from the place called home/our family tree began there homes/ now we set free, with an A-k/ready to deliberate”, he sings.The California- based, Emcee Hash is not talking of a forgotten revolution. With his rap number released on the net on November 17, he has become the voice of the Kashmiri Pandits whose struggles and tears his lyrics reflect. Hash, whose formal name is Ashish Kaul, was born to immigrant Kashmiri parents who reached the US via Australia. “Such songs may help in rekindling lost hope and bringing a new zeal to realize the ultimate goal of our homeland,” says Aditya Raj Kaul, 18-years-old social activist. The fact that a US based rapper, --the song has seen about 200 downloads in the one week since it was posted on his site -- has taken up the cause of Panun Kahsmir has given even the elders of the community hope that their cause will attract international attention. “It feels nice to see that the youth has taken charge of things. It will keep our hope alive that some day we may be able to return to our homeland,” says Somnath Wali, an octogenarian activist based in Ahmedabad,Though his lyrics reflect the pain of a community driven from their land and living as refugees, Ashish Kaul hasn’t had any a feel of his place yet. Though the history of his people and the experiences that ‘scarred his brethren,’ have come to him through stories told to him and what he has read, Kaul feels that he is one among the suffers. “The song ‘Panun Kashmir’ is a work that I have wanted to do for a long time, particularly ever since I embarked on my career as a musician. Although, I haven’t personally experienced the ache and misery that KPs underwent, I feel that my inner self can express similar feelings of pain and frustration through songs like this one,” Hash told Mail Today in an e-mail interview. Hash describes himself as a Kashmiri first and then a hybrid of Indian, Australian and American cultures. “I have had the opportunity to assimilate into multiple cultures in my young life and that has only helped me in my understanding of these entirely different worlds and situations,” he says. A major reason behind the anguish and frustration so visible in his lyrics is the condition of his grandfather, who stays with him in the US and has been suffering from dementia caused by a stroke he had when circumstances forced him to sell his ancestral home in the valley. “I wanted to write a song that would highlight our story, our struggles and bring them to the forefront of the minds of people,” Ashish Kaul says. Hash, 29, who has been a profesional musician doing gigs in and around California, intends to inspire people all over the world— Hindus, Muslims and all, to realize that, “It’s not about religion, it’s about terrorism, and it is high time we take a stand and unite to destroy this horror that has molested people all over the world and particularly for over a decade the people of my community,” he says. Then why the talk of hitting back with guns in his lyrics? “My reference to using guns and fighting back do not have to be taken as literals, they are expressions of my frustration, and the important message is unity and taking a stand. I hope that is how people take it.”The rap number was in the making for quite some time. He could not begin the song until I had found the perfect instrumental for it; as soon as he heard the beat created by Rapid Fly Beats), he got to writing, and when he did, he could not stop till the song was complete. Having completed the lyrics for the song, which was in early August of 2007, Hash forwarded them to his harshest critics— his family and friends, who came up with an encouraging feedback. “I knew this would be a song that people would appreciate and would associate with, and I am glad that my assumption is becoming a reality,” he says. His Kashmiri fans are hoping that such songs will start a journey of reconciliation for them.

POLITICS OF APOLOGY-by KAMAL HAK

(An old cartoon from the India Today)

Recently our lost homeland has been a buzz with news of different nature. The national media has been replete with the stories about Kashmiri Pandits reopening their temples and other places of worship after nearly eighteen years. These news stories also empathetically highlight the cooperation extended by the local Muslims in organizing the prayers and hawans at the previously abandoned temples. This is also fact that now more and more displaced Kashmiri Pandits find themselves mustering enough courage for taking a brief sojourn to their roots. Also, despite what the local media in Kashmir may project, Kashmiri Muslims at their individual levels are renewing their contacts with the displaced community. On their return from a brief visit to the valley many displaced Kashmiri Pandits speak about the discernable change of heart in the local Muslims. Some even suggest the preparedness of the local Muslims for apologizing to the displaced Pandits for the injustice committed against them.

A few months back some sort of brouhaha was created when the erstwhile spokesperson of All Party Hurriat Conference, Saleem Geelani, offered apologies to displaced Kashmiri Pandits on behalf of Kashmiri Muslims during a seminar organized by Roots in Kashmir in Jammu. Many agencies, with vested interests, and including some Kashmiri Pandits lose no time in branding these incidents as the indications of changing times in Kashmir. It may also be true that the times have indeed changed in Kashmir. But, does it necessarily mean the conditions have become so much conducive for the return of displaced Pandits that these demand a complete about turn of the very fundamentals that have driven and sustained the community’s struggle in exile.

One question that needs to be debated and understood is if these individual expressions of remorse carry any meaning? Alternatively, one also needs to ask a question if any institutionalized apology by the Kashmiri Muslims would tantamount to atonement of their sins. Displaced Kashmiri Pandits will have to be carefully guarded in responding to these hollow apologies, which will increase in numbers in the times to come. They need ask themselves a question which Marina Warner a renowned novelist and critic raised some time back, “Is apology today’s new political enthusiasm?”

This is also a fact that there is nothing new in the recent apologies made by certain Kashmiri Muslims. Various influential Kashmiri Muslim individuals and leaders have in past publicly apologized to the displaced Pandits in public. Only difference being that earlier the recipients didn’t see any significant in these otiose pronouncements. The process of offering apologies to displaced Pandits, perhaps, started in the year 1999, when during course of a huge international conference at The Hague, the Hurriat delegation offered to publicly apologize for the crimes committed against the Pandit. Panun Kashmir delegation attending the conference didn’t attach any significance to that and thought the gesture was only dictated by political expediency.

Some years later, the late Ashok Kak assembled a galaxy of Kashmiri Separatist leaders including Shabbir Shah and Omar Farooq in a first ever post 1990, across the table interaction with displaced Pandits. The proceedings of that meeting went on the expected lines with the Pandits vociferously expressing their anger and the Muslims trying to strike reconciliatory notes. The general sentiments of the Kashmiri Muslim leadership at that time also were overwhelmingly apologetic.

Nothing significant emerged from the said meeting as, perhaps, the reconciliatory tones were more a produce of head than the genuine outpouring of the heart. The deceit, cunningness and the rabid fundamentalist mindset behind their extirpation also might have heavily weighed in the minds of the Pandit participants, who dismissed the developments as part of a politics.

Some time later, in the year 2005, an interaction was held, in Motel Ashok Jammu, between groups of Kashmiri Muslim leaders with displaced Kashmiri Pandit representatives which included Dr. K.L. Chowdhury, a senior Panun Kashmir leader. It was during this meeting that a former militant and then mainstream politician Babbar Badr expressed his guilt, neglect and repentance for the sorry state of displaced community. It was around same time when during a seminar on Kashmir held in Jammu University, Babbar Badr, on his own and Kashmiri Muslims’ behalf sought hand folded forgiveness from Panun Kashmir Convener, Dr. Agnishekhar.

Apology as an instrument of reconciliation has become an important tool internationally. There seems to be an unprecedented rush to offer apologies in the belief of creating benchmarks for acknowledging the wrongs took place. Whether, such apologies can become harbingers of progress towards restoring the mutual trust between the warring societies is, however, debatable. In the aftermath of Virginia (USA) legislators voting unanimously, early this year, to express profound regrets over Old Dominion’s role in promoting slavery, Senator Henry L. Marsh 111 expressed that he foresaw “no true progress in this country until we get a reconciliation and honest dialogue about race and slavery.” The same applies to politics of Kashmiri Muslim apologies as well, as no bridges can ever be built without an honest and dispassionate admission of conspiracy that forced an exodus of three hundred and fifty thousand ethnic aborigines from Kashmir.

There are also inherent dangers associated with the act of apologies as these can be effectively used to block the chances of a conflict free future. John Torpey in “The Entrepreneurs of Memory” strongly asks if the world wide concern with public apology represents a turning of society’s face towards the past and on that closes the possibility of imagining a better future. He further asks, “Isn’t there a danger that struggling to redress history will become a substitute for working a better future?” Marina Warner even goes to the length of suggesting, “Too many crimes have been committed in the name of future for us to rise to the call of apology.”

In response to the powerful presentation made by the Dr. Agnishekhar at the Prime Minister’s 1st Round Table Conference on Kashmir, Mufti Mohd. Sayed made a telling statement of the times by saying, “I am ashamed at what was done to Pandits. It is a national shame and ‘Hum iske liye sharminda hai.’ Mufti Sayed may have tried to score points then but one can’t be but be amused at his worthless statement. Those who get impressed by these apologies must understand the politics behind the same and should not forget that there was no succor for displaced Pandits in Mufti’s healing touch policy. Having been a union home minister and also a chief minister, Mufti can’t have been ignorant about no justice being possible without reparation. Nahla Valji commenting upon the proceedings of Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa rightly argues that, “reconciliation is ultimately linked to reparation and implies that without the later one can find neither justice nor closure.” In case of Kashmiri Pandits reparation can only be the recognition of their claim over a separate homeland in Kashmir.

Speaking at a seminar held last year during Summit of the Powerless, Omar Adullah strongly advocated setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Kashmir on the similar lines as was done in post apartheid South Africa. True, the South African endeavor apparently seemed to have succeeded in its mission; however, recent reports have exposed some glaring omissions, which raise serious questions on the sincerity of purpose behind the whole process. Considering the inherent prejudice that Kashmiri Muslims have historically nurtured against the Pandits, will any commission be able to truthfully serve its terms of reference? Moreover, will the prevailing political and social dispensation in Kashmir ever allow setting up of honest and just terms of reference for any commission, which seeks dispense justice to the displaced community?

As mentioned earlier, Kashmiri Muslims will continue apologizing to the Pandits. The central question here is what that apology will actually indicate or achieve? Last year, during a two day seminar, Kashmir Imbroglio: Perspective, held in India Peace Center, Nagpur, Hurriat delegation led by their then spokesperson Saleem Geelani profusely expressed their regrets and sorry for whatever was inflicted upon the Pandits. Saleem Geelani even went to the extent of seeking forgiveness from the Panun Kashmir delegation comprising of Dr. Agnishekhar and Ramesh Manvati. The idea of an apology will definitely have an emotional appeal to many Pandits. But, what needs to be understood is that politics of symbolism must be isolated from the politics of substance, and then only the justice can be delivered.

The apologies from the very people who are the perpetrators of worst crimes against the humanity will only be symbolic and dictated by sheer political expediency. The apologies carry no weight or conviction as these are backed by a constructed mind set which welcomes the displaced persons as tourists and conspires against their permanent return. A testimony at the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated, “We won’t say these perpetrators give us their money but they must give us some thing to show they are sorry.” Kashmiri Muslims can’t return lost seventeen years to the displaced Pandits but they need to give them some thing to show they are sorry. Kashmiri Pandits would be satisfied with a small portion of land on which they can give shape to their dreams and aspirations.

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Kamal Hak is a political analyst and a columnist. He as well is a senior leader of Panun Kashmir. Hak resides in Noida and can be contacted at kamalhak[@]gmail.com

Roots in Kashmir representatives meet EU Delegation

PRESS RELEASE

Seek help in getting IDP status for the Pandit community

The European Union Delegation which had last month visited Jammu and Kashmir for an on ground assessment of the Kashmir issue today met up with representatives of the Kashmiri Pandits. The European Union delegation had invited representatives of Roots in Kashmir for a dialogue in order to understand the perspective of the Kashmiri Pandits with regard to the Kashmir issue. Roots in Kashmir co-ordinators’ Pawan Durani and Rashneek Kher had an hour long meeting with the EU representatives,The Ambassador of Portugal, Mr.Mendes,Charge’D’Affaires A.I of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Miklavz Borstnik and Dr.Alexander SPACHIS,Minister-Counseller,Political Affairs and Co-ordination,European Union.
The Roots in Kashmir delegates appraised the EU delegation about the ground reality and the plight of Pandits.The EU delegation was also made aware of the reasons for forced exodus and lack of social and political dispensation to the Pandits said Pawan Durani. The EU delegation was briefed on the rather apathetic role of State and Central Governments in rehabilitation of the Pandits. The RIK representatives submitted a 7 page memorandum to the EU delegation the theme of which was to recognize the rights of Kashmiri Pandits and declare them as Internally Displaced People(IDP’s).
Roots in Kashmir appealed to the European Union to recognize Kashmiri Pandits as Internally Displaced People as per the charter of the UNHRC. We also requested the EU delegation to impress upon the Indian Government to declare Kashmiri Pandits as Internally Displaced People since we are not migrants as Govt of India calls us said Rashneek Kher.
The EU delegation enquired about the present status of Pandits and their position in the present geo-political environment. They were also surprised to note that though the Peace initiatives were on the anvil yet not even one Kashmiri Pandit was allowed to visit Pakistan held Kashmir.
The EU delegation very patiently heard and understood the Pandit perspective in the Kashmir issue. A plea by the Pandit delegation that no solution of Kashmir issue be carried out without the involvement of Pandits was also well received by the EU delegation.

The Endangered Species by Rahul Pandita(in The Sunday Indian)

The simmers of the communal riots had just died away in Kashmir in 1986, when the then Union Minister of Human Resources SB Chavan came visiting the valley in connection with a wildlife conservation project. It was a project involving the Kashmiri Hangul (a species of deer), which had been declared as endangered species. As Chavan met people, a man appeared from behind and shot a question at him: "So Mr. Minister, you are very interested in saving the animal?" Chavan looked at the man and replied in affirmative. "But what about the other endangered species of this land?" the man said. "Which endangered species?" asked Chavan. "Kashmiri Pandits", replied the man, before disappearing in the crowd.
It has been almost eighteen years ever since Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of valley as terrorists called the shots. All these years, there have been many promises of bringing them back but, so far, it has not materialised at all. This is simply because the Pandits are not a formidable vote bank. As Pandits have been left alone to struggle against all odds, Kashmir has turned into a cottage industry. Human rights activists and self-styled intellectuals spend some time in the houseboats of Kashmir and then pen down book after book, sitting in the air-conditioned environs of Delhi's India International Centre. Amidst all the debris of case studies from the valley, the Kashmiri Pandits do not even figure as statistics.
But today, even the literacy rate among the community, which boasted of hundred percent literacy, is dwindling. Medical surveys state that the Kashmiri Hindus in exile have aged physically and mentally by ten to fifteen years. The Pandit intellectuals and leaders even apprehend that if such a trend continues at this pace only, one day the community may cease to exist. "The apathy towards Kashmiri Pandits is like a blister on the face of Indian secularism," says Dr. Agnishekhar, a community leader.
History bears a witness to the fact that Kashmiri Pandits have been known for their scholarly works in the field of philosophy, poetry, literature, grammar, erotics, drama, music and theatre and so on. It is also because of Pandits that Buddhism was propagated in Central Asia, China and Tibet . It was Ratnavaja, a Pandit from Kashmir , who was appointed as a supervisor for the rebuilding of Bsam-Yas monastery in Central Tibet, which was burnt in 986 A.D. A Kashmiri scholar Lakshmi taught Anutra tantra in Tibet during 1007 A.D.
But today, even the literacy rate among the community, which boasted of hundred percent literacy, is dwindling. Medical surveys state that the Kashmiri Hindus in exile have aged physically and mentally by ten to fifteen years. The Pandit intellectuals and leaders even apprehend that if such a trend continues at this pace only, one day the community may cease to exist. "The apathy towards Kashmiri Pandits is like a blister on the face of Indian secularism," says Dr. Agnishekhar, a community leader.

And back in Jammu , Poshkar Nath Raina sits in a mini bus, looking absently in thin air. He is missing his cow. He misses the apple tree in his backyard. He has not tasted the bodyuhaak and vostahaak (rare Kashmiri vegetables) for ages now. He looks at the fruit vendors selling apples. "Thirty rupees a kilo – Kashmiri apples," the vendor makes a sales pitch. "These and Kashmiri apples," Raina passes a sarcastic laugh, " you put a Kashmiri apple inside your mouth and it is filled with juice. The apples sold here are not even fit for animal consumption. Thirty rupees a kilo? Huh!" He looks at others. Nobody seems to be interested. He closes his eyes. And sitting amidst a heap of his canvasses, artist Triloke Koul whispers, "I feel I was not born at all."

Pandits denied entry into temple in POK-HINDU

Shrine of Sharda,once the greatest seat of learning in ancient India..now in ruins

A slew of so called CBM's and GoI's Healing Touch Policy, as always leaves Pandits out.When thousands from across the border have visited Char-e-Sharief and Hazratbal,not even one Pandit has been given permission to visit the sacred shrine of Sharda in POK.

Read on....

Srinagar, Oct. 3 (PTI): Notwithstanding denial of permission by authorities, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits yesterday tried to undertake a journey to Sharda Peeth temple, one of their revered shrines, in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir from here.
The 11-member delegation, however, was not allowed to proceed beyond the drop gate of army headquarters of the Uri brigade, 20-kms from the Line-of Control.
The delegation also contacted the sub-divisional police officer for the permission but he denied, saying it was the prerogative of the army.
The Kashmiri Pandits, under the banner of Pir Panjal organisation, chanting slogans 'Sharda Mata ki Jai' left from Durga Nag temple here for Kaman post in border town of Uri.
"Ours is a peace mission. We have been the worst sufferer of the animosity between India and Pakistan and our journey is an attempt to restore peace in the subcontinent," president of the organisation Ramesh Hangloo told PTI before embarking on the 120-km journey.
The KP leaders had requested India and Pakistan to allow them to visit the temple in PoK, but were denied permission.
The delegation was hopeful that they would be allowed to visit the temple in Atamuqam tehsil in Muzaffarabad.
Asked if they were not allowed to cross the LoC, they said its shows that the two governments were not serious about Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) announced so far.
Sharda temple, in Neelam (Kishanganga) valley just beyond the LoC in Pok, is located in a small village called Shardi near the confluence of Kishanganga and Madhumati rivers. It is one of most revered shrine of Kashmiri Pandits, and they want to go to undertake repair work of the temple.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200710030341.htm

KPs in US International Religious Freedom Report 2007 by Neeraj Santoshi(in Indian Express)

The US Government has categorically raked up the issues of the displaced Kahmiri Hindus and the atrocities meted out to them in the insurgency ridden Jammu and Kashmir, in its recently released report and expressed concern over their plight.

The US State Department in its annual International Religious Freedom Report, released on September 14, has stated in its section on India that ``Terrorist groups perpetrated atrocities against civilians, including minority Hindu members of the Pandit (Hindu Brahmin) community, in the long-lasting insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir''. The report states that `` Kashmiri Hindus remained vulnerable to violence. Most lived in refugee camps outside of the valley awaiting safe return. ''

The International Religious Freedom Report 2007 was released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. Emphasising that U.S. Embassy and the three U.S. Consulates continued to promote religious freedom through discussions with the country's senior leadership, as well as with state and local officials, the report further adds, ``Mission officers also monitored the plight of internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus, known as Pandits, who fled their home areas in the valley of Kashmir starting in 1989 due to attacks on them by terrorists seeking to drive out non-Muslim minorities'' .

During meetings with key leaders of all significant religious communities, U.S. senior officials discussed reports of ``harassment of minority groups, converts, and missionaries, as well as state-level legislation restricting conversion, the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, and the plight of displaced Kashmiri Pandits'', adds the report. Giving a detailed account of Displaced Kashmiri Hindus, the report says that approximately 4,778 Pandit families from Jammu and Kashmir still were living in 12 refugee camps in Jammu at the end of the reporting period, and 238 families were still in Delhi's 14 camps.

The reports also stresses that militants tried to disturb the inter-religious harmony across India by their violent activities. The reports points out that the, ``terrorists attempted to provoke interreligious conflict by detonating bombs in Hyderabad in May 2007, in Nanded (Central Maharashtra) in February 2007, in the Muslim majority town of Malegaon (North Maharashtra) in September 2006, and in commuter trains in Mumbai in July 2006''. The reports also maintains that in India ``The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the National Government generally respected this right in practice. However, some state and local governments limited this freedom in practice''.

Commenting on the references of displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the report, Dr Ajay Chrungoo, leader of the frontline Kashmiri Pandit organisation, Panun Kashmir told The Indian Express that report has vindicated the Hindu dimension of the Kashmir issue, with international bodies now increasingly realizing that the forced displacement of the Hindus from Kashmir valley is a very important issue, which needs to be addressed. ``The international recognition of our issues is the result of the struggle launched by the Pandit groups during last 17 years of exile. The significant part of the report is that it has categorically mentioned that terrorists are bent upon to disturb the religious harmony across the country. What happened first in valley, is now happening across India. Terror has become a pan-India phenomenon now with global linkages'', he asserted.

Chandigarh Screening: All Roads lead to RIK Event...

Picture from Times of India

(Please scroll down for more pictures)-

Some months back when a supposedly well known documentary maker had gone to Punjab University , Chandigarh to screen his “magnum opus” he had less than a dozen people to see his documentary. So embarrassed was the “genius” with the dismal turnout he decided not to even mention this on his blog.

With this fear in our hearts and minds when we reached Chandigarh on Friday morning we saw posters of our screening at almost all departments of the Punjab University.-
Cut to 4.30 Friday 21st of Sept,07. It seemed all roads lead to the English Auditorium, Punjab University. An unrelenting stream of students, doctors, faculty and members of the civil society kept pouring in. By 5 PM the auditorium was overfull. Just to give the reader a measure, the auditorium with a capacity of 325 people had more than 500 people waiting for the movie to begin and more than 200 waiting outside the hall to get in. The auditorium didn’t have air conditioning and yet people stuck to the places, whether standing or sitting refused to move out. There were many who had to be seated near the backstage so that they could see the movie.

We finally started at 15 minutes past 5, the press was there in full attendance which can be easily seen by the coverage of the event (links and pics posted on the blog).Mr.Atre,IAS and Director of PR for UT of Chandigarh also graced the occasion.The screening was followed by a panel discussion in which Mr.Vikram Chaudhary of NDTV, Professor Brar of Poltical Science Department and Sqn.Ldr(Retd) Sadhu took part. Yet again there was a vibrant Q&A session. In the Q&A session most questions directed at Vikram. The audience wanted to know why the English Electronic Media was in a way silent about the forced exodus of Pandits and their plight.
As always the discussion did not stick itself to Kashmir with issues like terrorism and role of the State coming into focus. While all this was happening more than 400 people were queuing outside the auditorium for a second screening which we had to announce seeing the turnout of people.

Once again we were overwhelmed by the response. More than 400 people participated in the second screening of the movie and later in the Q&A session. Many wanted to join the movement called RIK. Many more from Media wanted to know what they can do help Kashmiri Pandits get what they rightfully deserve. But that’s not to say there weren’t people who did not question our motives for screening what they thought was a one sided view of the Kashmir issues. A friend from the media wanted to know why we called terrorist of Kashmir as Islamic terrorists. As always our answer was the so called movement in Kashmir is Pan-Islamic expansion in the garb of so called freedom. Ironically when Rashneek (the moderator for the program) asked this gentleman as to why none but Indonesia was the only Muslim Majority nation being secular in character the friend sat quietly without an answer. Probably he and us will both search for them in days to come……

We are thankful to all our friends in Punjab University, Career Launcher ,all our friends and sponsors for such an excellent event.-
PS: Many had to be given CD’s of the documentary, as we failed to accommodate them in the auditorium.

RIK Cavalcade on way to Chandigarh.

A part of the audience at the first screening.

People watching the RIK Photo Exhibition outside the auditorium.


Humidity doesn't make any difference.


Another view of the audience.

Panel Discussion: Rashneek Kher (Moderator), Vikram Chowdhry (NDTV), Sq. Ldr. B.L. Sadhu.

A notice board outside the venue.

An eager student with a query.

RIK Chandigarh Team Volunteers outside the venue.

RIK Chandigarh Volunters

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For any other query mail us at: contact@rootsinkashmir.org

Media Stories - :

1. IT Chandigarh - http://itchandigarh.com/index.php?itemid=2198

2. Tribune - http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070922/cth1.htm

3. Total TV Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPm3DZZXVc8

THE PANDITS's OPEN WOUND-by Iftikhar Geelani(in PIONEER)

Bitta Karate, who murdered dozens of Kashmiri Pandits, walked out of court laughing this month when another attempt to convict him failed.It wasn't his victory, but the failure of the Indian state

One winter evening, late in 1989, a zooming Ambassador slowed down in the Chanakhan locality of Sopore town. A person wearing a Kashmiri gown (phern), apparently a Pandit, was thrown out and gun shots rentthe air. The bleeding person had not lost his senses. Holding hisbullet wounds he crawled to take shelter under a closed shop. Lawlessness had taken over the Kashmir Valley. Nobody would listen to anything but Azadi, to achieve which it was necessary to clear theValley of "informers" and leaders having the potential to "sell-out". The man who lay dying slowly of bullet wounds was crying for water inhis feeble voice. But the people of the neighbourhood, who were used to being hauled off by the security forces for harbouring anybody deemed a "militant" were in no mood to help. Instead of rushing to his rescue, they carried him by his arms and legs and tossed him into the Jhelum river which flowed nearby. That ended his misery.Till date, nobody has any answers for this strange behaviour -- a summary execution of sorts. The only explanation given was that thedead man used to live in a nearby village. He was a Kashmiri Pandit who had been kidnapped for providing information about militants tothe security agencies.

A contrast came a few months after this incident in a nearby SofiHamam locality, when militants raided the homes of Pandits in broad daylight. Almost all Pandit families had left for Jammu by then,barring a young boy. Ashok, who had stayed back for some unknown reasons. Militants believed he was helping the security forces bypinpointing targets. People literally gheraoed the whole locality and shoed the militants away. But, in the dead of night, they returned.This time, they cut off the roof of the house to drag out Ashok. After few days his dead body was found on the banks of river Jhelum.

The neighbours of the Pandits for centuries, the Muslims of KashmirValley were not particularly happy about the killings of Pandits. Onoccasions they remonstrated the militants. Even today, the full separatist spectrum consisting of hardliner Syed Ali Geelani tomoderate Yasin Malik recognise the Pandits as part of Kashmiri society. Their migration out of the Valley has disturbed Kashmiri society, they admit.

At the start of armed movement in 1989, strategists in both India and Pakistan disallowed any Kashmiri leader to take the centre-stage,which could have at least controlled the events. While India detainedleaders, militant groups at the behest of Pakistani agencies launcheda venomous campaign against them. They even resisted staunch pro-Pakistan Kashmiri leaders to ensure that the levers of control were with Islamabad and to avoid the re-emergence of a Sheikh Abdullah. Baring some honourable exceptions, this vacuum got to be filled by ruffians and street stalkers who had procured guns. They began to regard themselves as leaders and mujahids. They killed more civilians than they confronted the security forces.

Among such characters, Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate, emergedas one of top leaders of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).The then Governor, Mr Jagmohan, later wrote in justification of the detention of traditional leaders and providing ascendancy to theelements in the JKLF: "I wanted to weaken the hold of the fanatics and fundamentalists, and also the pro-Pakistani groups by facilitating the ascendancy of those elements in the J&K Liberation Front who had thelatent disposition to be moderate and whom I could subsequently tackle to accept my idea of security real freedom for the Kashmiri masses, within the larger framework of the Indian Constitution.

"But, on Bitta Karate's emergence, Mr Jagmohan's policy went all wrong.Blamed by the Pandit community for a string of killings of itsmembers, Bitta Karate walked free on October 27, 2006, after 16 years of incarceration. An anti-terror court while granted him bail, arguedthat there was "no justification in continuation of his incarcerationwhen other co-accused facing the same allegations are enjoying fruitsof liberty".

Earlier, in 2001, Justice GD Sharma of the State HighCourt had ordered the transfer the cases against this notorious killerof the Pandits to Jammu.Farooq Ahmed Dar, against whom 23 FIRs -- mostly related to murder --had been lodged, was a martial arts practitioner. That gained him fameas "Bitta Karate". What earned him the wrath of Pandits was the "confessional statement" run by the official media soon after hisarrest, in which he accepted his role in the killings.

Even the separatists and the dominant JKLF faction-led Mohammad Yasin Maliknever espoused his cause, or even asked for his release for several years because of the negative image he had earned.Since then, there has been stiff opposition to his release, promptingthe Government to repeatedly slap the Public Safety Act (PSA) -- apreventive detention law that provides for detention without trial for a maximum of two years -- on him. Each time the term expired, it wasrenewed.Despite filing various cases against Karate for the killing of 30Pandits in 1990 and creating a fear psychosis, the State Government failed to file a chargesheet against him. His release may be treatedas a failure of our criminal justice system. The Pandit community,which is now thronging the streets seeking his re-arrest, failed toprovide a single witness against Karate in the court of law. There can be no excuse of lack of security, because the trial was going on in aspecial court in Jammu, where witnesses could have felt much safer.

The State Government, too, totally relied on the invocation of the Public Safety Act (PSA) rather than resorting to investigations andprocuring witnesses for convictions. For over two decades the rampant use of the PSA with ease quite dampened the investigation capabilitiesof the Jammu & Kashmir Police. It is used on all and sundry, from timber smugglers to terrorists, because the PSA is such a short-cut to the end of the troubles of the police force.

The policemen have become lazy, for no longer are demands of securing prosecution placed on them. It has not only completely shattered the investigating machinery of the State police, but the law also falls short of the fundamental requirements of justice. There is no such concept as equality before Law. The police could rest assured thatthere was no need to present an accused person before a magistrate, what to talk of looking for witnesses to examine.Bitta Karate eluded justice because the criminal justice system inJammu & Kashmir is quite dead. The State's failure to bring to justicea mass murderer and ethnic cleanser like him should not be viewed in narrow terms. It is high time the security agencies are reminded ofthe fundamental duty of their craft - to secure convictions.--

The writer is a noted expert on Kashmir issues

Screening at Center for Media Studies-Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

We were over cautious this time around,we did not post the screening venue and date on our blog prior to the screening.We are aware that a lot of "Champions of Free Speech" are out with their arsenal ready to pounce upon and scuttle any of our screenings.We are scared of them,I must admit.Who wouldnt be!With the communists forming the core of our government even the PM has to eat the humble pie time and again.The seventh most powerful woman on the globe has to bow to the nuissance called Communists.We are small fries after all.So we were tight lipped until it would happen.

It was the turn of MMM Students(Master in Mass Media ) at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University to see what this nation has turned a blind eye to.Most of the students were well informed about Kashmir and the plight of Kashmiri Pandits but the magnitude of the plight had still to dawned on them.What equally surprised them was the apathy of the Government.Bitta Karate roaming free was something that a lot of the viewers were very uncomfortable with.

The movie screening prompted a discussion session wherein students aired their views and asked questions.While most questions centered around Kashmiri Pandit exodus and their plight there were questions about the role of armed forces,human rights violations and rights of Kashmiri Muslims.

We could only share our knowledge and pesrpective on the various questions,issues,frenzy and expression of freedom.

As one left the auditorium one was left with more questions than answers.But then that is how vexed the Kashmir issue is.It is and will be RIK's endeavour to take the issue to the audiences and then let them decide for themselves as to how they view the Kashmiri Pandit exodus and their present plight.

RIK would like to thank Arunabh Sen and Pawan Atri for their help in making the screening successful.Screening pics ....we apologise for the poor quality of the pictures.We did not take any cameras with us because we werent very sure till the last minute that these"Champions of Free Speech" would not have used their CONTACTS for blocking our screening.

HOW SANJAY KAK GOT OUR SCREENING SCUTTLED

It was a very sad day for all of us at RIK. When I should have been posting the pictures of our screening at Kamla Nehru College, which was to be screened today, I am writing this post to pre-empt another bundle of lies and self pity which the Jashn-e-Azadi team will come out with. Let me put the sequence of events straight.
We had approached Kamla Nehru College for a screening of the documentary”And the World Remained Silent” and were given permission to screen the movie on 24th of Aug at 2.30 PM.We had accordingly put the date of screening on our blog. Even in our recordings of Agrasen Collge Screening we had ended saying “See you at Kamla Nehru College on Friday the 24th,Aug”.
Our activist Pooja got a message from the college authorities on Tuesday saying they could not screen our movie because of some un-avoidable circumstances. We suspected “someone” was playing games and trying to scuttle our screening. Accordingly we went to the forums and posted on this very blog the news of cancellation of our screening.It was late that night that one our friends from Kamla Nehru college told us that at that same slot on the same day Jashn-e-Azadi was now being screened .Well we could understand Sanjay Kak being revengeful to the extent that he would get our movie cancelled by using his CONTACTS in the college but we had never imagined he would “teach us a lesson” by showing his movie on the same slot on the same day. How someone who has projected himself as a champion of free speech and right to expression was stooping so low as to “teach a lesson” to people who simply did not agree with his genre of movie making.
Since we are not well connected we again went to people, the forums and the SARAI readers list and posted Nishant Dudha’s post on Wedensday saying that someone had got our movie screening cancelled and had got a slot for his own movie at the same time same day.
Sad and hurt by the attitude of the college authorities there was little one could do, since they were acting on someone’s behest, someone so revengeful that he simply wanted to censor our movie from the face of the college. Since we are not known to Film Clubs, Leftist leaning one book wonders and self proclaimed champions of freedom and democracy ,we went to the Police Station next to the venue where Sanjay Kak had manipulated his way into. We filed a complaint and since Sanjay Kak is breaking the law of the land by screening a movie which does not have necessary censor certificate, the Police did the rest.
We have learnt a lesson, and learnt it well. Sanjay Kak is a well connected man and he can ensure that we can’t screen our movie if he does not want to. He can use his contacts and his blog to generate self pity and sympathy for his movie by being a CRY BABY. Anyone can cry hoarse by saying how his right to speech is being trampled by Police and Authorities but then he would never be honest to admit how he himself uses his contacts to get screenings of his detractors scuttled.
Ironic how “liberal intellectuals” behave when they feel insecure!

Successful Screening at IIMC

A screening of our presentations,video's and interview of the terrorist Bitta Karate was conducted at the Indian Institue of Mass Communication in New Delhi. An audience of 50 mass communication masters students gathered with much interest to see the woes and plight of this displaced community. We thank Mr. Sunil Bhat, a student of prestigious IIMC who through his tireless efforts conducted this screening single handedly.

In words of Sunil; he sums the entire event as follows: "After the screening was over we (students) engaged in a disscussion on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. Everybody was moved by seeing the K.Ps. living as refugees in their own country. Many of them raised their voices against Bitta Karate."

He continues further, "Some of the students got emotional and said that the K.Ps. have been subjected to genocide. They further said that the psuedo-secularism in the country is responsible for the present plight of K.Ps. "

Few pictures from the IIMC Screening...