Kashmiri Pandit Community - A Perspective
Kashmiri Pandit Community - A PerspectiveRate:


Kashmiri Pandit Community - A Perspective
Tags: Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir

We all have trodden the path of exile in all these 34 years since we were hounded out from Kashmir Valley by Jehadi forces and are still waiting for our rehabilitation and it seems that there is no end to our sufferings as it remains an issue which has no resolution in near future.
We all have lost two generations of ours, waiting for our return to the valley and it always remains a question in our minds if we can return to our habitats or if it will be an unending exile?

We all are witness to all the hardships we faced as a minuscule community by keeping pace with time in once again resettling us in Jammu and other parts of India on our own and without any rehabilitation plan implemented by each dispensation of the time, except some camps created by governments from time to time to rehabilitate some families temporarily. We all are still waiting as a community for our final return and rehabilitation in our Valley which is our root.

We all are witness to the hardships we faced in educating our younger generation members in different locations of our country, courtesy of some concessions provided by Late Sh. Bala Saheb Thakre in giving reservations in professional colleges and also other states taking a que from the then Maharashtra govt.

We are all witness to how we constructed our dwellings in Jammu and other places of India when we hardly could afford to build the same, but we all resolved to take these tasks mainly for our elders, who felt abandoned and their tears made us strong enough to build these small nests.

We all are witness to the TV channel debates telecast on different channels as and when our community members were murdered cold bloodily in Valley and also, we are all witness to different promises made by different dispensations of that time regarding our resettlement or rehabilitation.

We are all witness to the movable and immovable property left behind when we were hounded out from Kashmir Valley and also the treasure of our revered religious places, which are still in our thoughts and we still see these places in our dreams after an exile of 34 years.

We are all witnesses to the time cycle of all these years since we were hounded out from the valley.

We are all witnesses to the gruesome and brutal murder of our community members who lost their lives to those gun-yielding jihadis, who were bent upon uprooting us from our valley.

The recent amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill 2023 passed by Lok Sabha, envisages reservation of two assembly seats for the migrant community and making nomination of two members of the displaced community who were previously residing in Valley before 1990, by the LG of Jammu and Kashmir UT.

Now the question arises who is eligible for nomination to the legislative assembly?
Since our displacement from the valley, we have seen numerous organizations and parties working for the cause of migrants. And all these organizations working there for our issues give a feeling that these all work more for their publicity rather than our cause.

As we have seen in the previous legislative council of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, we had two members of our community who were nominated to the council, but they hardly had a say in any policy matter regarding migrants and only decorated the seat as the member of the displaced community.

Since different organizations of the community are already working for their own ends rather than community welfare, it will not be out of place to mention that they all will use their clout of influence on the present LG, to nominate them to the assembly maybe they are fit to represent our community or not.

In the present circumstances, the present dispensation at the center led by BJP may also nominate their own party cadre candidate of the Kashmir displaced unit as representative of our community. But the question arises as to whether they are capable of representing our community as real representatives.

Since our displacement from the valley, the realities have changed, and being a member of the displaced community I think the process of rehabilitation and resettlement has lost its sheen because not all KP's wish to settle in Kashmir, although we as the members of KP community are very much eager to return to Kashmir, but our younger generation is not eager to settle in the valley where they have got little employment opportunities and it will be not feasible for them to leave their lucrative Jobs and go there, and 34 years means a lot of time for any community to wait for any just and meaningful justice, and it is a known fact that justice delayed means justice denied, and we as a community have seen all the obstacles created by vested interests in our safe return to the valley.

Also, in recent years we all have seen a new issue emerging in our community which I think is more important to address rather than just wait for our rehabilitation or resettlement or for that matter demanding compensation for our properties left in the valley.

The issues have changed and we all have to ponder these new issues which are related to our survival as an ethnic community having its unique culture, identity, traditions, and their preservation is our core issue and we all have to think about how to work on these issues.

We as ethnic entity have to work on this aspect of securing our identity, and all our so-called groups, parties, and societies, whether social, ethical, or religious should resolve to work on working on securing our identity and culture.

Lastly, I will appeal to every group, party, or religious organization of our community to dispel their idealogy and to take a step forward in engaging with each other and carving a unified authority that with dynamic leadership can work on these newly created issues and we will have a central body to look after our issues and also who can represent our community in just passed amendment of Reorganization Act of 2019 in the winter session of the Parliament.

Author: Suniel Kumar Dhar
Kashmiri Pandit Community - A Perspective