“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will raise again a thousand fold in future. When we neither punish nor reproach the evil doers, are we ripping the foundations of justice of which no trace will be left for our future generations for protection against evil.” – Alexander Solzehnistin (Nobel laureate)
Background: The Indian people must realize that history does not move on dotted line. It takes its own course. It does not forget. It does not forgive. When history gives its verdict, it is ruthless with retribution which is relentless.
The history of Kashmir begins with the history of the Vedic civilization of India. The people of Kashmir are a part of the proto-Vedic people of India, who have inhabited Kashmir from the most ancient times, going back to the latter stone- age culture of the Indian people who lived in the whole of the north of India. Hindus of Kashmir are known as Saraswat Brahmins and trace their ancestory to the Saraswat Brahmins living along the course of the legendry river Saraswati, which formed the cradle of Vedic civilization of India. Evidence is also available of the close contact between the people of the Saraswati civilization and people of Kashmir. Nilmat era of the Hindu history of Kashmir followed the disappearance of the river Saraswati. Nilmat Purana narrates; “sixty five rituals and festivals, were celebrated with great devotion, faith, pomp and show. Some of the rituals and festivals find mention in other Puranas also. Some of these are celebrated even today in Kashmir, like Kaw Poonim and Yaksha Mavas (Kechi Mavas). It is generally thought that the Purana talks of rituals and festivals of Nagas only, and these being adopted by Aryan Saraswat Brahmins of Kashmir, which is not so. Many of the rituals, festivals and days are common with those followed by Aryans in Bharatvarsha or emanating from Vedas.”
There is enough ground to believe that the people of Kashmir formed a part of Saraswati civilization, because, it is hardly possible that the people who lived in Kashmir could not have established contact with the Saraswat culture, which spread over whole of the northern India. The human skeletons found at Burzahom in Kashmir point to a common ancestory of the people of northern India, who in the ancient times lived along the banks of the river Saraswati. The offsprings of Rishis and Sages the small community of the Saraswat Brahmins of Kashmir have been like their ancestors and still are by and large, sober, and peace loving.
Kashmiri Hindus have a rich cultural heritage. The ritual structures of the Hindus of Kashmir have their source in the Vedic Kalpa Sutras and Grah Sutras. The entire system of the theological imperatives, the Hindus in Kashmir are bound to, have their origin in the Vedic religious precept of the Sanatan Dharma, the Sanskrit civilization of India evolved. The Shiv- Shakti cult, the Mahayana Buddhism and even the Kama Sutra originated from Kashmir. The Shiva philosophy got new dimensions in the folklore, in the Lalla Vakhs of Saint Lalleshwari.
Nilmat Purana, the Mahatmayas, social and cultural data about the history of Kashmir made available in the Rajatarangni of Kalhana and Jonraja, the Agmas and the scriptural literature of the Hindus of Kashmir, including Langakhsh Karmkanda represent a philosophy which is essentially Sanskrit in content. There is lot of other Sanskrit literature on religion, history, philosophy and love-lore available, as much as 35 percent of whole Sanskrit literature came from Kashmir only. The traditional calendar of the Kashmiri Pandits Saptrishi Samvat is 5096, corresponding to 2021 AD.
Kashmir possessed numerous religious endowments and shrines. Many Hindu monarchs built numerous elegant temples, some of these still exist. Lalitaditya Muktapida was the greatest Hindu emperor Kashmir has ever produced. He built a number of new towns with temples of great archaeological importance. “There was not a township, no village, no river, no island where this king did not lay down a sacred foundation.” writes Kalhana in Rajatarangni. Emperor Ashoka brought Buddhism to the valley. Three centuries later, Emperor Kanishka convened the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir, which led to the founding of its Mahayana sect. Buddhist missionaries from Kashmir carried it to Central Asia and China. Vaishnavism, Buddhism and Shaivism flourished side by side in Kashmir.
Kashmir, a Hindu kingdom, which had touched the pinnacles of glory under the Karkotas and later the Utpalas, extending its territories, north and east as well as west, and which had become a major military power in the north of India, passed under the Muslim rule early in fourteenth century, when a Tibetan fugitive, Rinchen seized the throne of the kingdom. Rinchen was supported in his struggle for power by Shah Mir, a Muslim adventurer and soldier of fortune, who had taken service in the kingdom of Kashmir, and had risen to power and posit ion, with the patronage of the Hindu kings.
Rinchen, after he had seized the throne, embraced Islam, evidently, under the influence of Shah Mir, whose support he needed to consolidate his hold on the Hindu kingdom. A concocted story about Rinchen’s conversion has been in vogue for a long time, which has entered some books on the medieval history of Kashmir that he was refused admission to Hinduism, which he had supplicated for, after which he had accepted Islam and become the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir. Perhaps the concoction is based upon a comment made by Jonraj in his Rajtarangini, that, “One Deva Swami had scruples in initiating Rinchen to Shaivite faith. The refusal was made because Rinchen happened to be Bautta by birth.” Deva Swami was a Shaiva Acharya and Shaiva Acharyas did not admit of any reservations of birth to admit Buddhists to practice Shaivite faith, because Shiva Acharyas were Hindus and Shaivism, a school of philosophy in Hinduism and not a faith in itself. Rinchen was a Buddhist and there were many Buddhists who came from the northern regions to Kashmir to take instructions in Shaivism, Buddhism, and Vaishnavism. More importantly, conversion from one faith to another was unknown to Hindu religious culture.
Rinchen took the decision to embrace Islam for his own political interests, to keep Mir Shah, who had assumed formidable power in the Hindu kingdom, on his own side. Baharistan-i-Shahi, a Persian work, written in 1614 AD, and recently translated into English, by Dr.Kashi Nath Pandita, a noted Persian scholar and an expert in Central Asian Studies, reveals the truth.
Baharistan-i-Shahi narrates; “At this time only a handful of people in Kashmir have embraced Islam. Most of the people were infidels or dissemblers. But when Rinchen thought of embracing a religion, and associating himself with a community, he made enquires about the principles and laws of their religion from the savants among the infidels and the learned men of the times. They beseeched him to join their fold. The Muslims also put before him, the principles and teachings of the Islamic faith and invited him to embrace their religion. But owing to serious differences among the two religious groups, and the disagreement prevailing among the two religious groups he was not able to reach any decision. Each community considered its religion the true one and each group induced him to embrace its religion. He was in a fix because of the serious differences and glaring contradictions in the views of their communities. Their heated discussions and discourses led him to no satisfactory conclusions. However, blessed as he was with a dispensation for justice, for ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ he found the right path. He firmly decided that he would embrace the religion of the first man; he would meet in the street after coming out of his house the next morning. He also decided to join the community to which the man belonged.”
Baharistan-i-Shahi notes further; “Next morning he came out of his house. The rays of the sun of divine guidance, bringing every object from darkness to light, librated him from darkness of ignorance and disbelief; for all of a sudden, in the neighborhood of his mansion, he saw a Darvish offering Namaz (the Muslim way of praying), with full devotion. He went towards him, when the Darvish had finished his prayer; Rinchen held him by the hand and brought him to his house. Then he called on an interpreter who knew his languages.” After having asked the Darvish his name and his religion, he was told by the Darvish his name was Bulbul Qalandar and his religion was Islam, and that he was a member of the sect of Shah Nematullah Wali of the Shia sect. There upon Rinchen embraced Islam and became the first Shia Muslim ruler of Kashmir assuming the name of Sultan Shams-U-Din.
Rinchen’s death after a short spell of his rule over Kashmir plunged Kashmir into turmoil. The Damara war lords, who had ravaged the country so far, restored the Hindu claimant, Udhyan Deva to the throne. Rinchen had married Kota Rani, the daughter of his benefactor. Udhyan Deva took her as his queen. Udhyan Deva an imbecile, died after a rule of fifteen years of misrule, leaving the reins of his administration into the hands of Queen Kota. Taking advantage of the continued unrest in the kingdom which the feudal batons spread, Shah Mir seized the throne and laid down the foundations of the Sah Miri dynasty.
In a footnote appended to his translation of Baharistan-e-Shahi, Kashi Nath Pandita writes; “It is recorded in Tohafatul-Ahbab, that on the instance of Shamsud-Din Iraqi, Musa Raina issued orders that every day 1,500 to 2, 000 infidels be brought to the doorsteps of Mir Shamsud-Din by his followers. They would remove their sacred thread (Zunnar), administer Kalima to them, circumcise them and made them eat beef.” What was done to those who refused conversion is not mentioned.
Baharistan-e-Shahi narrates one of the events of how the chief Wazir Malik Qazi Chak of the ruling king, ordered the mass massacre of Hindus at the instance of the Saiyads. It records;“Since the above mentioned Malik (Qaji Chak), prior to his assumption of power and authority had promised him that he would never deviate from or disregard his wishes and injunctions and therefore, in deference to his wishes, he held consultations with his councilors and administrative officers, and decided upon a whole-scale massacre of infidels. The massacre was scheduled for the day of the approaching ‘Ashura.’ Thus in the year A.H.924 (A.D.1518), during the Ashura about seven to eight hundred infidels were put to death. Those killed were the leading personalities of the community of infidels at that time, men of substance and government functionaries. Each of them wielded influence and sway over a hundred families of other infidels and heretics. Thus the entire community of infidels and polytheists in Kashmir was coerced into conversion to Islam at the point of the sword.”
Tohafatul-Ahbab is full of the detailed description of the demolition of the Hindu temples in Kashmir. Hardly any temple was spared from destruction. The description of the Hindu shrine Shiva-Vijayeshwara, situated in the present day Vijabror in south Kashmir, is recounted here, to show, the continuity in the process of the demolition of the Hindu temples over centuries. Tohaftul-Ahbab relates the grandeur of the temple which it describes; “had no parallel in its beauty and artistic splendor,” with its top “capped with rising pinnacles.” Sikandar, the Iconoclast, got the pinnacles removed and carried to the city, where they were placed, “on the four well known structures of the city.” Tohafatua-Ahbab notes; “one was put atop the Jamia Masjid, second atop the hospice of Amir Sayyd Ali Hamdani, the third on the top of the cupola of Sikandar’s tomb and the fourth atop the palace of Sultan Sikandar in Hairan Bazaar.”
A century later, the Muslims, lay as well as clergy, accomplished its complete destruction. Tohafatul-Ahbab note; “Shams-ud-Din Arake came to that place in person and saw the demolition of the temple. The foundations of the temple of the infidels were demolished and the stones were brought to the city, where these were used to build the boundary wall of the Hamdaniyyeh hospice. A splendid mosque was raised in the place of temple.”
The author of Tohafatul-Ahbab writes; “Shams-ud-Din Iraqi began his enterprise (of destroying temples) with the temple at Kohi-Maran, (Hari-Parbat hillock).” Hari-Parbat is the most sacred of places of the Hindus in Kashmir, at the top
of which was a mighty temple, where Hindus worshipped. The temple was demolished. Tohafatul-Ahbab records; “A temple of the infidels existed at the place. Its foundation was dismantled and the idol house was set on fire, till it was fully consumed in flames.
About the demolition of the Hindu temples the author of Tohafatul-Ahbab, a local Muslim who calls himself Mohammad Ali Kashmiri, notes; “Hazarat Amir Shamsd-u-Din took great pains in breaking idols and smashing statues. He succeeded in his mission, Islamic faith and the laws of religion were strengthened (in Kashmir). The number of idol houses (temples) of the infidels in this land was so large that one could not give a full account of them. My pen is helpless in counting each of these. I, therefore, pull up the reigns of my pen at this point and leave the count and account of demolition of temples by Araki at this point although one is unable to make the count.”
Amir Shams-ud-Din Iraqi carried his campaign of conversion to every village and every Hindu home. The author of Tohafatul-Ahbab narrates; “when Araki accomplished mission of converting people and training and guiding them in the new faith, he addressed the task of converting and guiding womenfolk. Pious, puritanical and honest and trustworthy dervishes (retainale of the Sufis) and Sufis were selected and the task assigned to them. They were sent to all villages, localities and towns. Infact, they reached each and every house. When they came to a homestead, they would get hold of the cow belonging to the house keeper, kill it and sit down to eat beef in the company of the womenfolk and family members. Along with this they administered the recitation of Kilma to the womenfolk of the household and taught them the basics of Islam. Distinguished vice-regents and sincere dervishes would enter the house of the aristocrats and the elite, in order to administer Kalima to them and make them eat beef.” (Kashmir-Hindu Religious Culture by Chaman Lal Gadoo)
Islam spread quickly in Kashmir because there was large-scale persecution of Hindus and their forcible conversion during the Muslim rule. During the reign of Sultan Sikander, only 11 Hindu families survived conversion. He destroyed hundreds of temples and built mosques in their place and with their material. With the collapse of the Mughal Empire, Kashmir was taken over by the Afghans. This was perhaps the worst period in the annals of Kashmir unheard of in human history. Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir from Afghan’s in 1819.
After taking over from Sikhs, the Dogras ruled the State from 1846 to 1947 till India got independence from the British rule. The last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State, Maharaja Hari Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947, to unite his domains with the State of Indian Union. Soon after, tribals and regulars from Pakistan invaded the State but the Indian security forces repulsed the attack and pushed the invaders out. In January 1949, a ceasefire agreement was concluded between India and Pakistan with one-third of the state territories still remaining under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. India accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
Kashmir Valley is only a small part of the Jammu and Kashmir State. The Jammu and Kashmir State, as it emerged from the British Indian Empire after the British quit India in 1947, constituted of (a) the province of Kashmir (b) the province of Jammu (c) the frontier division of Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh along with the Dardic Dependencies of, Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, Punial, Ishkoman, Darel and Koh Gizir. The province of Jammu was larger than the province of Kashmir in area and population. The frontier division of Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh was larger than the two provinces of Kashmir and Jammu put together, though it was sparsely populated. The fighting in Jammu and Kashmir began with the invasion of the State by Pakistan in October 1947. After the Truce Agreement and the Cease-Fire which ended the fighting in Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, more than forty percent of the territories of the State remained under the occupation of Pakistan. The occupied territories included the district of Muzaffarabad and a part of the district of Baramullah in the Kashmir province, the district of Miprur, and a part of the district of Poonch in the Jammu province and the frontier region of Gilgit, along with the Gilgit Agency and the region of Baltistan and the Dardic dependencies. The rest of the Jammu and Kashmir State, which lies on the Indian side of the cease-fire Line, now called the Line of Control, constitutes of the province of Kashmir, the province of Jammu and the frontier division of Ladakh. It is not fairly well known that the province of Jammu is larger than the province of Kashmir in area and population.
Just as the Jammu and Kashmir State cannot be identified with the Valley of Kashmir, the people of the State cannot be identified with the people of the Kashmir Valley, who are predominantly Muslim and the dispute is a Muslim problem. But it is more a problem of the Hindus, the Sikhs and the Buddhists, who are living in the State and who form more than forty percent of the population of the State. The reduction of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir to a dispute over the Valley of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is aimed to project the Muslim content of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. The dispute over Jammu and Kashmir has a Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist content as well, which is more significant than its Muslim content. The Hindus and the Sikhs constitute a dominant majority of the population of Jammu province, while the Buddhists form a majority of the population of Ladakh. The Muslims form a majority of the population of only the province of Kashmir. No settlement on the dispute over Jammu & Kashmir can be reached, so long the dispute is treated as a Muslim problem confined to the Valley. The right to life and freedom of the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists and their aspirations are equally important.
On 5 August 2019, the Government of India, took a historic decision, revoked the special status, granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir. The act re-constituted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, 'Jammu and Kashmir' and 'Ladakh', with effect from 31 October 2019.
EXODUSES OF KASHMIRI HINDUS FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND
Since the arrival of Islam in Kashmir, practically, there was unabated migration of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley, their birthplace. However, the following seven mass exoduses of minority community from Kashmir have been recorded by eminent community scholars and historians:
The First Exodus-- Sultan Sikandar (1389-1413):
Shah Mir became the founder of the Muslim rule in Kashmir. Islam became the court religion. Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (AD 1314-AD 1385) wrote in Zakhirat’ul Maluk; ‘Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (Shah Hamadan) entered Kashmir with 700 sayyids; and his son, Mir Muhammad Hamadani, with 300 more. They endured in the Valley under royal protection and disseminated the message of Islam’. With his repressive measures backed by state administration, he achieved the conversion of 37,000 Kashmiri Hindus to Islam during the latter two of his three visits. The persecution was so severe that Hindus either left the Valley or converted to Islam until only eleven Hindu families were left behind. This marks the first exodus of the Kashmiri Hindus from their native land. They fled to the neighbouring regions of Kishtwar and Bhadarwah via Smithan pass and to various provinces of India via Batote. (Bhatta wath)
Sultan Sikandar, the Butshikan, ascended to the throne in 1389AD. He was a religious fanatic and offered privileged positions to the new converts. He appointed Saif-ud-Din, originally a Brahman called Saha Bhat, as Chief Minister. He banned all ceremonies and celebrations and imposed Jazia (punitive tax) upon Hindus and stopped them from using tilak on their foreheads. Hassan (Kashmiri Muslim historian) writes; “This country possessed from the times of Hindu kings many temples which were like the wonders of the world. Their artistry was so fine and delicate that one found himself bewildered at their sight. Sikandar, goaded by feelings of bigotry, destroyed them all and leveled them with the earth and with their material built many mosques and Khanakas (Muslim shrines).”
Jonaraja, a 12th-century historian, compares this holocaust of Hindus to “locusts descending on and destroying a paddy field.” He further says, “that crowds of Hindus fled their homes in different directions to escape the carnage. Hungry and thirsty in the scorching heat of the plains, many died with their tongues lolled out like dogs. Thus occurred the first exodus of the Hindus from Kashmir.”
According to W.R. Lawrence, the Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir were given three choices-death, conversion or exile. “Many fled, many were converted and many were killed, and it is said that this thorough monarch (Sikandar) burnt seven maunds of sacred threads of the murdered Brahmans”. As for the statements of Hassan and Lawrence, six maunds of sacred threads of converts and seven maunds of murdered
Pandits were burnt. The number of people, to whom these thirteen maunds of sacred threads belonged, might have been tremendously colossal.
The Second Exodus--Sultan Ali Shah (1413-1430):
Ali Shah, the persecutor (AD 1413-1420), son of Sikandar, the Butshikan, followed his father’s footsteps during his short rule of six years. He retained Suha Bhatta as Chief Minister to continue his earlier crimes and atrocities against Hindus.
According to Jonaraja the plight of Hindus in Kashmir in the draconian reign of Ali Shah was no better; “Suha Bhatta passed the limit by levying Jazia, on the twice-born (i.e. Hindus). This evil-minded man forbade ceremonies and processions on the new moon. He became envious that the Brahmans (Hindus) who had become fearless would keep up their caste by going over to foreign countries. He, therefore, ordered posting of squads on the roads, not to allow passage to anyone without a passport. Then as the fisherman torments fish, so this low born man tormented the twice-born in this country. The legendary Brahmans burnt themselves in the flaming fire through fear of conversion. Some Brahmans killed themselves by taking poison, some by the rope and others by drowning themselves; others, again by falling from a precipice. The country was contaminated by hatred and the king’s favorites could not prevent one in a thousand from committing suicide …. A multitude of celebrated Brahmans, who prided in their caste, fled from the country through bye-roads as the main roads were closed. Even as men depart from this world, so did the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans (aborigines) of Kashmir flee to foreign countries. The difficult countries through which they passed, the scanty food, painful illness and the torments of hell during life time removed from the minds of the Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) the fears of hell. Oppressed by various calamities such as encounter with the enemy, fear of snakes, fierce heat and scanty food; many Brahmans perished on the way and thus obtained salvation.” This was the second miserable mass exodus of the Kashmiri Hindus. Jonaraja calls it “Chandh-Dandh,” a violent, cruel, brutal and horrible punishment, for the abandoned and vulnerable Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir.
The Third Exodus-- Qazi Chak (1506-1585):
The Chaks belonged to the Shia sect of the Muslims, like all other earlier Muslim rulers they also adopted their policy of conversion by coercion, loot, plunder arson and butchering of Kashmiri Hindus. There was no let up in religious crusade against them either to force them to get converted or face liquidation. Baharistan-e-Shahi narrates one of the events of how the chief Wazir Malik Qazi Chak of the ruling king, ordered the mass massacre of Hindus at the instance of the Saiyads.
Dr. M.L. Kapoor observes that it took Islam almost six centuries to secure a strong foothold in Kashmir. Subsequently with a jet speed it galloped through and within next one hundred years over shadowed Hinduism and claimed a majority. Quoting Jonaraja Dr. Kapoor writes; “As the wine destroys the trees and locusts the paddy crops, so did the Yavanas destroy the usage of Kashmiris and the Kingdom of Kashmir was polluted by evil practices of malechhas.”
“When Fatah Khan (1506-16) proclaimed himself the ruler and ascended the throne under the title of Sultan Fatah Shah, the situation in the valley was depressing and deplorable. He tried bid best to restore normalcy and rule of law and order by curbing the power of nobles but met with no success. Contrarily he ended up in becoming a mere tool in the hands of those who counted in the echelons of power. Foremost among those were the intriguing Shams Chak, and his three trusted friends. Nasrat Raina, Sarhang Raina and Moosa Raina who succeeded Shamas Chak as the Prime Minister of Sultan Fatah Shah. He was a confident of Shams-ud-Din Iraqi propagator of Islamic faith and converter of Sunnis to Shia sect of Islam.
During the Chak period the Kashmiri Pandits were persecuted, snubbed, humiliated, held low and trampled mercilessly. They had to pay tax even for performing their religious rites and obligations, rituals and customs. To preserve the distinctive traits of their sect and creed the Kashmiri Pandits were bound to pay 40 precious stones to the ruler. The Chak era goes down as black saga in the history of the Kashmiri Pandits. The Chak rulers were cruel and heartless and peerless in devising ever-new methods of inflicting pain and misery to the KPs without the slightest tremor of scruple. Those KPs who somehow escaped getting converted to Islam fled their native places to seek refuge and sustenance at safer places in the neighbourhood of Kashmir Valley. It was a massive exodus in that innumerable KPs left their homes and hearths and marched out of Kashmir. While they were fleeing for their lives, a barrage of spiteful abuse and insolent contumely was let loose on them with the aim of preventing their return to the land of their genesis. Thus the genocide of Kashmir Pandits was designed, engineered and pursued to transmute the basic character of the heritage of Kashmir, change its social religious and cultural identity beyond recognition and reduce this ancient land of Hindu Sages and Saints to the Muslims ghetto as was conceived by the Sayyid theologians.” ( Paradise Lost by Prof. K.L.Bhan)
The Fourth Exodus under the Mughals (1585-1753):
The Mughals ruled India for more than two hundred years. Earlier Muslim dynasties had very short span of life .The Khalji dynasty ruled for 30 years (1290-1321), the Tughlaq dynasty for 94 years (1321-1414), Sayyads for 37 years (1414-1451) and the Lodis ruled for 75 years. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb wanted to convert India, the land of ‘infidels’ into an Islamic country. He considered conversion to Islam as a part of his imperial policy. He demolished temples and humiliated Hindus. He tried to make the Mughal state a Muslim theocracy. In November 1665 he issued orders that Holi not be celebrated and in the same year Diwali was also banned. In 1668 Aurangzeb banned the holding of Hindu festivals in pilgrimage centers. In 1668 he banned music and dismissed musicians. Taxes were imposed on Hindus in almost every field. Pilgrim tax was imposed in 1679. Jizya was re-imposed in the same year. It was an attempt to humiliate the Hindu elite.
Aurangzeb after ascending the throne in Delhi in 1658 to convert whole of India to Islam, he implemented a well calculated plan according to which he started with liquidating Hindu scholars in India in general and the Kashmiri Pandits in particular. Iftkar Khan (1617-75) the Mughal governor of Kashmir during the reign of Aurangzeb, brutally tyrannized Hindus. He was using force ruthlessly to convert Pandits to Islam. Faced with an ultimatum, many of them began to flee Kashmir. Those who stayed back and refused to accept Islam were put to sword.
Some Kashmiri Pandits met under the leadership of Pandit Kripa Ram of Mattan and decided to go to the Swami Amarnath cave temple and invoke the mercy of Lord Shiva. At the holy cave temple, one of them saw Lord Shiva in a dream Who told him to go to Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs, and ask for help to save the Hindu religion. He spoke to his companions about the revelation and they all decided to appeal him. On May 25,1675, when 500 Brahmins from the valley led by Pandit Kripa Ram (a sanskrit teacher in Gobind Rai) came to Anandpur to narrate their story of repression and woes to Guru Tegh Bahadur. The Guru was moved by their entreaties and told them that their problem could be solved only if some soul of truthfulness and integrity offers himself for sacrifice. His son, Gobind Singh, who was at that time just nine years old, said; “Who else can be more truthful and sublime than you! You alone can protect the Hindu religion. You alone are that graceful and sublime.” Guru Tegh Bahadur was delighted to hear the brave words of his son. He told the Kashmiri Pandits to go and tell the emperor that if he could be able to convert the Guru to Islam, they would gladly follow him. Guru Teg Bahadur went to Delhi to address the grievances of the Pandits with the Moghul ruler. He was asked to embrace Islam, but when he refused, Aurangzeb executed him. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom is an event of greatest importance in the evolution of the Indian ethos, especially the history of Kashmiri Pandits. In his supreme sacrifice can be perceived the triumph of the eternal glory of the Indian spiritual tradition!
Despite the supreme sacrifice for the preservation of Hindu religion and Kashmiri ethos, the state terrorism remained unabated for sometime more. The desecration of temples and the killings of KPs continued and the process of exodus also continued. The Fifth Exodus-- Afghan Rule (1753-1819):
Kashmir remained under Afghan rule for 66 years. Like Mughal rulers Afghans also ruled Kashmir through their governors. In all 28 Pathan governors and deputy governors ruled over Kashmir. The Afghans in their essential traits were tribals, ferocious, cruel and inhuman. According to Walter Lawrence, “when we pass from the Mughal period to the period of Shahani Durani, we pass to a time of brutal tyranny, unrelieved by good works, chivalry and honour.” The Afghan rule in Kashmir (1753-1819 AD) was basically a reign of utmost brutal tyranny. The barbarous Afghans employed every wild, inhuman, primitive, ferocious, cruel and brutal means to suppress the Kashmiri Hindus. A pitcher filled with ordure was placed on the head of a Hindu and stones were pelt on it, till it broke and the unfortunate Hindu become wet with filth. Their brutality and atrocity crossed the extreme limits when Hindus were tied up in grass sacks, two and two, and drowned in the Dal Lake.
Tyndale Bisco records; “It is said that during the Afghan rule in Kashmir (1752-1819) the Afghans were in the habit of riding into the Kashmiri houses on their horse-back, stabling their horses in the lower portion and occupying the rest for themselves. The Kashmiris were unable to check these outrages by force. They devised therefore the plan of having so low doors that not only the intruder had to dismount, but also to bow his head on entry. As the Afghans were haughty and no one of them was willing to make obeisance to a local person, they were forced to remain outside.”
Hindu parents destroyed the beauty of their daughters by shaving their heads or cutting their noses and ears to save them from degradation. Any Muslim could jump on the back of a Hindu for a ride to where ever. Mir Hazar, an Afghan governor, used leather bags instead of grass sacks for the drowning of Hindus. Turbans and shoes were forbidden for them. The Hindus were also forced to grow beards and tilak was forbidden. The Afghan period was the darkest period in the history of Kashmiri Hindus. Afghans are now remembered only for their barbarity, brutality, tyranny and cruelty. They thought no more of cutting of heads of Hindus than of plucking a flower.
Walter Lawrence writes; “The Pandits, who formerly wore moustaches, were forced to grow beards, turbans and shoes were forbidden and the tika or fore-head mark was interdicted.” He further records, “The Jazia or poll-tax on Hindus was revived and many Brahmans either fled the country, were killed or were converted to Islam.”
The victimized Hindus were forced to flee the country or were killed or converted to Islam. There was horrible mass exodus of the Hindus of Kashmir, the fifth one, to faraway places such as Delhi, Allahabad. Many perished covering the long distances on foot.
The Sixth Exodus—(1931-1949)
In 1819, Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed Kashmir which ended the Afghan rule. This was first time in 500 years that a non-Islamic government was ruling Kashmir. Sikhs ruled Kashmir till 1846.Maharaja Ranjit Singh's government was a mixture of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Within four months of Sikh rule census was conducted in Kashmir. The population stood at 6 Lakhs and out of that only 28,000 were Kashmiri Pandits!
According to Fergusson; “The condition of Kashmir under the Sikhs was no doubt an improvement on that under the Afghans. The Hindus to whom the Sikhs are in many ways very near benefited most and the disabilities under which they had been unable to practice the rites of their religion were removed. It was now the turn of the Muslims to suffer. Mosques were closed, the call to prayer was forbidden and capital punishment was awarded for the killing of a cow.”
“Maharaja Gulab Singh (1792-1858), a favourite general in the armies of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he performed valiantly in several of the Sikh wars in Afghanistan. As a result, Maharaja Ranjit Singh bestowed upon him the title of the Raja of Jammu with a personal Raj Tilak, on the banks of the Chenab in 1822. After the passing of the great Punjab King, the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846 gave Maharaja Gulab Singh the title over the Kashmir Valley. It was not vacant, and the Muslim governor there put up a strong resistance to the Dogras. At the same time, there were the remarkable trans-Himalayan military expeditions by Dogra soldiers from Jammu and Himachal Pradesh, who fought pitched battles at high altitudes. The great Dogra general, Zorawar Singh, known as one of the most remarkable military commanders in world history, conquered Ladakh after stiff resistance from the local kingdom. Simultaneously, General Baj Singh, Mehta Basti Ram and other Dogra generals conquered Gilgit-Baltisan. In the process, the Dogras suffered heavy casualties, but succeeded in establishing the Dogra Empire of J&K, which emerged as the largest princely state in British India. Gulab Singh’s successor, Maharaja Ranbir Singh added Hunza and Nagar as tributaries to what was the Dogra Empire.” (Dr. Karan Singh)
“The Hindus and Sikhs played a decisive role in shaping the peoples’ struggle in the State, for the freedom of India. Ideologically committed to the unity of India, the Hindus and the Sikhs in the State fought shoulder to shoulder with the Indian people for the liberation of India from the British rule. The Hindus and Sikhs in the State joined the non-cooperation movement in the Punjab in the aftermath of the Rawlatt agitation. A year after they joined the Muslims in the Khilafat Movement which took Jammu and Kashmir by storm. The Hindus and Sikhs joined the civil-disobedience movement which followed the Salt Satyagrah in 1930.
The Hindus and the Sikhs put themselves in the forefront of the States Peoples Movement. It may not be out of place to mention, that the first plenary session of the All India States Peoples Conference held in Kathiawad in 1926, was presided over by Shankar Lal Koul, a Hindu of Kashmir. Shankar Lal Koul, along with Lala Muluk Raj Saraf of Jammu, represented Jammu and Kashmir State in the plenary session of the All India States Peoples Conference. In his presidential address Shankar Lal Koul called for liberation of the peoples of the States from the princely rule as well as the British Paramountacy.
Inside the state, the Hindus and the Sikhs initiated the effort to forge a secular peoples’ movement for constitutional reform. Of the twelve signatories to the National Demand, which provided the basis of a movement for constitutional reform in the State, five were Kashmiri Hindus, one represented the Sikhs and six were Muslims. The National Demand formed the basic structure of the All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference which led the national movement in the State till 1947. The National Conference committed itself to the Indian unity and the Indian freedom from the British Colonial rule and joined the All India States Peoples’ Conference, due to the indefatiguable efforts of its Hindu and Sikh leaders. During the crucial years, after the Second World War, when the British prepared to quit India, the Secretary General of the All India States Peoples’ Conference, Dwarka Nath Kachru, a Kashmiri Hindu, initiated a vigorous movement to integrate the States peoples Movement with the National Movement led by the Indian National Congress and forge a common front of the peoples of the British India and the princely States against the British and the Muslim League. Dwarka Natn Kachru spared no efforts for the inclusion of the princely States in the future constitutional reforms in India, which proved to be decisive in the integration of the States with India, when the British quit India and left the princely States in a state of disarray.
When Pakistan invaded the State in 1947, the Hindus, Sikhs and the Buddhists along with the Kashmiri-speaking Muslims, who formed the main support base of the All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, formed the core of the resistance the invading army met with. However the Muslim officers and ranks in the State army, about 45 percent of its strength, mutinied, massacred their Hindu officers and comrades-in-arms in cold blood and joined the invading columns as they poured into the State across its borders with Pakistan. The Hindu and Sikh officers and other ranks of the State army, joined by the Hindus, Sikh and Buddhists, fought to the last man, to keep the invading army at bay, till the airborne Indian troops reached Srinagar. In Gilgit, the Gilgit Scouts mutinied on 1 November 1947, imprisoned the Governor of Gilgit, Ghansara Singh, killed the Hindu and Sikh military and police officials and opened up the air-strip which was built by the British for the airborne troops of Pakistan to land in Gilgit. The fall of Gilgit was followed by the mutiny of the Muslim officers and men of the State army regiment posted at Bunji in Baltistan, who joined the invading armies in their advance into Baltistan and Ladakh.
In the territories of the State, which were overrun by the invading hordes, more than thirty-eight thousand Hindus and Sikhs were massacred. Thousands of women were abducted; hundreds of them committed suicide to escape capture. All Hindu and Sikh temples and shrines were burned down or destroyed to erase the last vestiges of the Hindu and Sikh culture and religion in the occupied territories. The whole Hindu and Sikh population of the territories occupied by the invading army, which escaped the holocaust took refuge in Jammu. The Buddhists in Baltistan who escaped the onslaught of the invading army took refuge in Ladakh. The assertion that Jammu and Kashmir presented a heaven of peace and brotherhood while the rest of India smoldered in communal violence is a myth” (Dr. M. K. Teng)
“The 13th of July 1931 will go down as a black day in the history of KPs in modern times. On that ominous day the Kashmiri Muslims repeated their history vis-a-vis the KPs. On that Day City of Srinagar and its suburbs witnessed a depressing and demoralizing spectacle of loot, arson and murder of Kashmiri Hindu property and lives. The Bombas and the Khakas had, it seemed revisited the Valley. On the incitement and directive of the Muslim Reading Room party the Muslim hoodlums made the unfortunate KPs direct target of their wrath, frenzy and madness. The Goondas and the anti-KP Muslims had a hay day. They went berserk everywhere particularly in downtown Srinagar looting KP shops and houses and setting them on fire. The booty they lard their hands on in Zaina Kadal and Maharaj Gunj was distrib-uted. It was in fact, the looters day and the real martyrs were the KPs. Numerous KPs were killed and many wounded. Legend has it that there was a communal orgy at Kanikoot, Tehsil Nagam, Distt, Badgam, a few KMs away from the city of Srinagar. About a dozen houses of the KPs were ransacked, looted and then torched and several KPs were murdered for absolutely no fault on their part.” ( Paradise Lost by Prof. K.L.Bhan)
G.S.Raghvan writes about loot and plunder of Hindus on13th July, 1931, “From Bohrikadal to Ali-Kadal - a long stretch - the Hindu shops were raided. Other localities such as Safakadal, Ganjikhud, and Nawakadal too formed the centres of loot. Bazar streets were littered with property, books of accounts was burnt; the Hindu shop-keepers were molested, in short, pandemonium prevailed. The Hindu merchants lost lakhs worth of goods.” He further writes, “The most extra-ordinary portion of the story was that, almost simultaneously with the happenings at Srinagar, there was an uprising at a place named Vicharnag, some 5 to 6 miles away. It has been stated that untold atrocities were committed there; men owning lakhs were reduced to indigence and women were subjected to the worst possible cruelties and the most indecent assaults. A military force was dispatched to the place, but by the time the havoc had been completed. Elsewhere the Hindus were the victims of ambuscade. Some lost their lives and many suffered physical injuries. Stray assaults continued till long after.” He continues, “It is true that the unspeakable atrocities of July were visited on the Hindus, robbing women of honour, subjecting children to assaults and reducing the wealthy to penury.”
On August 15, 1947, India awoke into freedom from the yoke of British imperialism. Pakistan Army regulars and tribal raiders invaded Kashmir Valley on October 22 in 1947, two months after the Partition of India.
“The religious zealots of Kashmir acted as guides to these hordes of savages from NWFP who behaved even worse than their Afghan ancestors. Besides indulging in wholesale loot and arson they killed numerous Kashmiri Pandits at Batapora, Gushi and Tikkar in the present Kupwara district and at various places in the district of Baramulla, Badgam and outskirts of Srinagar. The local Muslim zealots joined hand with the wild tribals in forcibly converting many Kashmiri Pandits to Islam on pain of torture and instant death. And numberless were the Hindu places of worship and Dharamshalas that were reduced to ashes. Tens of thousands of KPs in the Northern,
Northwestern and Northeastern Kashmir had to flee their homes and hearths and seek refuge in Srinagar. A good number of them left the state for good, thus setting the stage for the sixth exodus. There are innumerable prominent KP personalities who felt compelled by hostile political and economic circumstances to bid unwilling good bye to their dear native places.” (Prof. K. L. Bhan)
“Although there are detailed accounts given by survivors of carnages in Muzaffarabad, Rajouri, Poonch, Mirpur, Deva Vatala and Kotli in Jammu region, very few written accounts on the Pandits have been published. Dr Ramesh Tamiri, has worked on the oral history of tribal invasion with special focus on Hindu minorities in the Valley. Accounts of the Pandits in Muzaraffarbad, Mirpur, Kotli and Gilgit-Baltistan were collected, giving an insight into the era when J&K saw large-scale organised killings. Family members of those killed or kidnapped have been tracked by the author. As per his research, over 200 villages in north and central Kashmir where Pandits lived came under Pakistani occupation before their liberation by the Indian Army. More than 140 killings of the Pandits took place in the execution style. There were over 10 massacres, hundreds of houses burnt, thousands of houses looted and hundreds of cases of forced conversions, rape and mass migration.” (The Tribune October 27, 2017)
The Seventh Exodus Ethnic Cleansing of Hindus of Kashmir (1989-1990)
 The creation of Pakistan in 1947 was a landmark in the struggle for the unification of the Muslim Ummah. Ever since Pakistan was created, it has followed a sustained policy of thrust for expansion towards the east, as a major strategy to spread across Jammu & Kashmir and take the Muslim power to the predominantly Muslim regions of Central Asia, Mongolia and Sinkiang.
The mass massacre of Hindus and the Sikhs in the territories of the State occupied by Pakistan in 1947, the uncertainly which followed the exclusion of the State from the Indian constitutional organization, the dismissal of the first Interim Government, the virulent secessionist struggle led by the Plebiscite Front that followed, and the induction of thousands of armed infiltrators into Kashmir to lead a Muslim rebellion against India, were events which went unheeded.
After the Truce Agreement, negotiated by the United Nations and the consequent cease-fire in the fighting in the State in January 1949, the Hindus, Sikhs and the Buddhists continued to fight against the war of subversion, Pakistan waged from the occupied territories of so called ‘Azad Kashmir’ to foment Muslim distrust in the State. In 1953, the Kashmiri-speaking Muslims who had supported the accession of the State to India in 1947 repudiated their commitment to the unity of India on the ground that India had denied them the right to reorganize Jammu and Kashmir into another Muslim nation in between India and Pakistan. The Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists arraigned themselves with the forces which opposed to the Muslimisation of the State and fell into a head on collision with a new Muslim separatists movement led by the All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front, which was founded in 1955, to ensure the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir, envisaging a plebiscite to determine the future affiliations of the State. The Hindus, Sikhs and the Buddhist formed the main resistance to the Muslim struggle for self-determination, the Plebiscite Front spearheaded till 1975, when the Indira-Abdullah Accord was concluded and the Plebiscite Front dissolved.
The Muslimisation of the various political and economic processes had begun in the State, soon after Sheikh Abdullah came to power, and the minorities in Kashmir were at the receiving end. Under the pretext of economic reforms, the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, 1950, was drawn up that year. It placed a ceiling on land ownership at 186 kanals. The rest of the land of a landlord was redistributed among share-croppers and landless labourers, without any compensation to the landlord. Most of the landlords worst affected were Kashmiri Pandits. The state authorities worked assiduously and strictly towards restricting admissions to higher educational courses and institutions to Kashmiri Pandits. Simultaneously, their opportunities to enter state government employment were slashed. Not only had such drastic actions taken, the State government changed the names of 684 villages, which had Hindu names by a government order No. REV/S/340 of 1981 dated 13-10-1981.
RIOTS IN KASHMIR DURING 1986
Communal violence that rocked Kashmir Valley during the fateful last week of February 1986 has taken a heavy toll in terms of not only the trail devastation it has left behind but also the damage it has inflicted on the psyche of a whole community of Kashmiri Pandits. (A Report by Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi)
‘Anti-Hindu riots in north Kashmir began in the township of Anantnag in 1986. The riots engulfed the whole of the south Kashmir and spread to the district of Baramulla in north-west of Kashmir. Mobs at tacked the Hindus, burnt their homes and then destroyed their temples and places of worship. The reports of the anti-Hindu riots evoked sharp reaction from Hindus in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Arya Samaj and the Bharatiya Janata Party sent their fact finding teams to Anantnag and the other affected places in the Kashmir province. The Bharatiya Janata Party team was headed by Shri Kedar Nath Sahani, a senior leader, of the party. The Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, the frontline organization of the Kashmiri Hindus living in Delhi, also sent a team of its members to Kashmir to report on the anti-Hindu riots and the damage done to the Hindus shrines and temples.
The Kashmiri Samiti team constituted of a Committee which was headed by Shri J.L.Bhat, President of the Samiti and four other members, Sh. M.L. Kaul, Capt. M.K. Kachru, Sh. Deepak Bhan and Sh. J.N. Tikoo. The Committee went from village to village, collecting information about the damage done to the Hindus in the riots.
The five members fact-finding Committee of the Kashmiri Samiti arrived in Srinagar on March 15. The Committee visited the worst affected villages of Dhanav, Wanpoh, Lok Bhawan, Bijbehara, Pampore, besides Srinagar. They also met the representatives of all affected areas individually and severally.’
‘Members of the fact finding committee observed during their visit that almost all Hindu temples in the Anantnag District have been severely damaged and desecrated, priceless architectural treasures and idols broken as a real reminiscent of the dark days of Sikandar, the Iconoclast.
All evidence points to deep-rooted and sinister conspiracy to exterminate the Hindu minority of Kashmir. The marauders came for attack when most of the men folk were away at work. Whenever men came their way, they were subjected to severe beating, some of them having been injured seriously. Even tethered cows were beaten up mercilessly merely because these belonged to Hindus.
Even though the violence has abated, an air of despondency and deep sense of insecurity and fear prevails amongst the Kashmiri Pandits, who are even now threatened with dire consequences. Posters issued in the name of fundamentalist and pro-Pakistan organizations like Muslim Militia and Al-Jehad continue to surface in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley preaching hatred against the minority community.
The minority community is badly shaken and has no faith in the administration which, it thinks, has in many cases acted in collusion with fundamentalists and anti-national forces. It is apparent that without the connivance of like-minded elements in the State administration, these forces could not have wrought the destruction they did.
The brutalized atmosphere prevailing in Kashmir valley speaks of a definite design to squeeze out this tiny minority. Therefore, large scale exodus of the scared Pandits appears to be in the offing.’(Kashmir—Hindu Shrines by C. L. Gadoo)
Gen. Zia-Ul-Haq was a Pakistani four-star general who became the sixth President of Pakistan after declaring martial law in 1977. Addressing a top secret meeting in April, 1988 at Islamabad he said, “Gentlemen, let there be no mistake, however, that our aim remains quite clear and firm the liberation of the Kashmir Valley. Our Muslim Kashmiri brothers can't be allowed to stay with India for any length of time now. The Kashmiris have a few qualities, which we can exploit. First, his shrewdness and intelligence; second his power to persevere under pressure, and the third, if I may say so, he is a master of political intrigue. If we provide him with means through which he can utilize these qualities he will deliver the goods". He elaborated his Kashmir Plan “OPERATION TOPAC” we plant our chosen men in all the key positions to subvert the police force, financial institutions, communication net work, whip up anti-Indian feelings amongst the students and peasants preferably on some religious issues. Detailed plans for the liberation of Kashmir Valley and establishment of an independent Islamic State in the third phase will follow.”
The ethnic cleansing of the Hindus of Kashmir in 1990 is one of the few episodes, which occurred after the Second World War, and in which a whole community of people was subjected to genocide and driven out of its natural habitat. Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is a process of political violence which has specified political commitments aimed to separate Jammu and Kashmir State from India and secure its annexation to Pakistan. In fact, it is a low cost proxy war declared by Pakistan against India to grab Kashmir. The terrorist violence with which the Muslim Jehad in Kashmir commenced in 1989 was aimed to achieve a number of military objectives which the terrorist regimes and the Jehadi war groups considered to be essential for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian occupation. The ethnic extermination of the Hindus was one of the primary objectives, the Jehad aimed to achieve. The Hindus formed the frontline of the resistance against the separatist movements in the State, which the Muslim separatist forces carried on for decades with the support of Pakistan. The Hindus have always supported accession of the state to India. They have, undeniably, formed the most powerful support base for India in Kashmir. They were always in the forefront of the struggle against secessionism, communalism, and the various movements for annexation of the state to Pakistan.
“A lot of crap is being peddled out about Kashmiri Pandits having a dominant position in Kashmir whereas facts speak a different story. The basic fact is that the Muslims are ruling elite in Kashmir. They dominate its entire economic organization and enjoy communal precedence in all social forums. Islam is virtually the official religion of the state. Whereas the Muslims constitute a little more than half the population of the State, they possess three-fourths share in legislative bodies, administrative organizations and all the local Government
Institutions. In the Kashmir province, the Hindus have no elected representation in the State Legislature, nor do they have any elected representation in the local bodies. They constitute less than five per cent of the administrative services of the State and have less than one percent share in the higher cadres of the state administration. Muslims monopolize 94 per cent of the State services in Kashmir. The Hindus of Kashmir province have absolutely no share in the decision making clusters of the state Government, which have always been constituted by the Muslims of the Kashmir Province. More than 90 per cent of the admissions to professional, technical and other educational Institutions are reserved for Muslims in one form or the other purely on communal basis. The Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities share a bare 8 per cent of the educational facilities that the State provides.” (White Paper on Kashmir drafted by Dr. M. K. Teng and C. L. Gadoo)
In1947 the population of the Kashmiri Pandits was 15 percent in the valley, it came down to 5 percent in 1981 and was reduced to mere 0.1 percent in 1991after forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits by terrorist organizations. The census of 2001 shows Kashmiri Hindus totaling 1,00, 962. Male 90,870 and female 10,020!
Another glaring example is that it shows 240,003 vacant census houses in the state.
There has been a continuous disinformation campaign about terrorist violence in Kashmir that the Muslims were subjected to economic deprivations which resulted in wide spread poverty among them. Kashmiri youth felt disgruntled and sick. According to their leadership, this was basis of their gun culture. If this were the whole truth, why did not the youth other than the Muslims in Kashmir and the other two divisions namely Jammu and Ladakh take to guns like their counterpart in the valley. A close analysis of the facts would bear out that the valley enjoyed a more hectic economic development than did the other two divisions of Jammu and Ladakh. That is why different commissions, like Sikri Commission in 1979 and Gajender commission in 1967 had to be appointed to look into the lopsided development in Jammu and Ladakh regions. Actually, the Jammu and Kashmir is a prosperous state which in terms of per capita income is placed third among the Indian states. Again, according to National Sample Survey, Kashmir has the lowest poverty ratio as compared to any state in India. Only 3.5 percent of Kashmir’s population was below poverty line in 1999-2000. The national average was as high as 26.1 percent. Maharashtra is the second richest state in India, but its poverty ratio is 25 percent where as Orrisa has highest poverty ratio at 47.2 percent! On an average Central Per Capita Assistance to a Kashmiri is 8 times more than any other fellow citizen in the country!
“The terrorist violence raging in Jammu and Kashmir is another ‘Direct Action’ that Pakistan and Muslim secessionists inside the state have launched to force a second partition on India. The campaign of terror spread in Jammu and
Kashmir follows the same pattern which the ‘Direct Action’ followed in 1946; genocide of Hindus, their ethnic cleansing by forced exodus from the Muslim majority provinces of India and the destruction of their religious identity. The Jihad which Pakistan launched in Kashmir in 1990, to liberate Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian hold, mounted its first attack on the Hindus in Kashmir. The terrorist assault on the Hindus in Kashmir commenced in the fall of 1989, and by the summer of 1990, more than seven hundreds of them had been assassinated in cold blood. Among those killed were people from all section of the Hindu Society; teachers, lawyers, political activists, media men, intellectuals, and men of small means. The massacre of the Hindus was accompanied by a widespread campaign of intimidation and threat to drive out the Hindus from the Kashmir province, burn their temples and religious shrines and homes and loot their property.” (Bitter Truth by Dr. M.K.Teng and C.L.Gadoo)
Shri Jagmohan in his book ‘Shaping India's New Destiny’ states; ‘On July 13, 1989, Tikka Lal Taploo, an advocate and vice president of BJP, was shot dead near his house. Judge N.K. Ganjoo, who had sentenced Maqbool Butt, was killed on November 4, 1989, in broad day light at the busy Hari Singh Street. Pran Nath Butt, a noted journalist was done to death on December 29, 1989. The murder of these three prominent leaders of the Kashmiri Pandit community was in line with the terrorist policy of killing one and frightening one thousand. The objective was to secure exodus of the Pandits from the Valley. No one was arrested and tried for these crimes.’
On January 4, 1990, a local newspaper had published a press release issued by Hizbul Mujahideen. The group had urged young people to wage jihad for secession from India and accession to Pakistan. The release had also ordered Hindus to leave the valley. A campaign to incite the Muslim population was carried out. Inflammatory speeches were made from loudspeakers of mosques. Posters were stuck on the houses and shops of Kashmiri Pandits ordering them to either embrace Islam or leave the valley. They were threatened with their lives. Reports of Kashmiri Pandits being killed had started to come out. Posters were also pasted outside Mosques and at selected busy places labeling Kashmiri Pandits as agents of India and branding them as traitors. The ‘Alsafa’ was in the vanguard publishing these gory threats. This paper virtually became the mouth piece of the terrorists and played a capital role in fanning its flames and carrying them to remote corners of the Valley. Kashmiri Muslims were clear in their slogan ‘Asi gache Pakistan, Batav ros Batnev san’ (we want Pakistan, inclusive of Kashmiri women and exclusive of Kashmiri Pandits). ‘Kashmir main rehna hai, Allah-ho-Akbar kahna hoga’ ‘Musalmano jago, Kafiro bhago’, ‘Islam hamara maqsad ha Kuran hamara dastur hai, jehad hamara rasta hai’, Kashmir banega Pakistan ‘Aftab’ and ‘Azaan’ joined in the choice songs in praise of the mujahids.
All news papers published from Srinagar carried no news worth the name other than declarations by National Conference, Congress, Muslim workers/leaders like ‘Mein Mukhbir nahin Noon’ (I am not a spy) ‘Ailane la taaluqui’' (confession of parting links with political parties and serving of such affiliations) and open threats to the Kashmiri Pandits of dire consequences for anti-movement (anti azadi) and traitorous behaviour. There was a mushroom growth of militant and terrorist outfits. JKLF had been there in the vanguard for the establishment of Nizame Mustafa. Other groups were AI-Jehad, Dukhtarane Milat, Muslim Janbaz force, Ikhwan-ul-Muslamen, Allah Tigers, Hizbul Mujahiden and more.
The forced displacement of Kashmiri Pandits and their targeted killings were organised with a clear objective of ensuring that Kashmir valley is cleansed of its minorities. As such, about 85,000 Kashmiri Pandit families were forced out from their ancient indigenous habitat in Indian-administered Kashmir by terrorists and religious extremists. According to late Ghulam Mohammad Sofi, former editor of daily Srinagar Times “nearly 32,000 Kashmiri Pandits’ houses have been burnt since 1991”
The rumblings of the storm which engulfed Kashmiri Pandits were heard long before it swept the valley. The ultimate and devastating blow came on January 19, 1990, late in the night, when hell was let loose. The total breakdown of the law and order machinery spread a deep sense of insecurity, which was so severe that the most of the Pandits fled the valley and migrated to Jammu and Delhi in the dark hours of the night, with their shirts on!
“In Jammu, where the refugees poured in thousands, the State Government failed to rise to the occasion and provide temporary shelter and relief to the hundreds of thousands of the Hindus sprawling on the streets in the temple city of Jammu. Were it not for the yeoman service of the voluntary Hindu organisations, which immediately swung into action to organise relief for the refugees, hunger and disease would have taken a heavy toll of the unfortunate people, who had suddenly been thrown into the wilderness. No help came from any quarter. Silence of death fell on the liberals, the protagonists of secularism, the radicals and the rest. Gita Bhawan, a temple complex situated in the heart of the Jammu city, adjacent to the Shiva Temple, was converted into a reception-cum-transit camp, where the Hindu refugees arriving from Kashmir, disembarked. The various Hindu organisations of Jammu, which had organised relief for the Hindu refugees arriving in thousands from the Kashmir valley, established a broad-based relief committee constituted of several prominent Hindu leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation was named the Sahayata Samiti. Pandit Amar Nath Vaishnavi, a prominent Hindu leader and social activist, was appointed the Vice-President of the Samiti. Vaishnavi was actually put in control of the function of the Samiti. In Delhi, the other main place, where the refugees arrived in large numbers, the work
of relief and rehabilitation was taken up by the Kashmiri Samiti Delhi, headed by Pandit Chaman Lal Gadoo, an indefatigable social worker. In Delhi, the main place of refuge, the Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, took up the work of relief and rehabilitation. A transit camp was set up at Kashmir Bhawan itself for the displaced persons who were later shifted to 14 other camps in Delhi. In Jammu, thirty-two refugee camps were established to accommodate the refugees. Refugee camps were also established at Nagrota, Riasi, Udhampur and Kathua.”(White Paper on Kashmir, drafted by Dr. M. K. Teng and C. L. Gadoo)
“As a major militant assault on the Hindus was delivered in January 1990, the Hindu temples and shrines, religious places and Hindu religious institutions, came under heavy attack of the militants. Almost all over the Kashmir province, temples were desecrated, subjected to bomb attacks and at many places, set on fire. In suburban villages and remote regions of the province, Hindus having fled away, there was no one left to report the damage done to the temples or complain about it. The State Government exhibited no interest in the protection and safety of the Hindu temples. At many places in Srinagar as well as the other townships of the Kashmir, Hindus who went to lodge complaints about the desecration or demolition of temples, misappropriation of their land, arson and incendiary attacks on their homes, were turned back from the police-stations and District and Tehsil offices, without being able to get their complaints registered.
The issue of the demolition and damage to the Hindu temples was raised in the Indian Parliament. On 12 March 1993, the Minister of State of Home in the Government of India stated in the Parliament that thirty eight Hindu temples had been demolished and damaged in Kashmir during the period from 1989, to 1991. He stated that during the year 1989, thirteen temples were demolished and damaged, during the year 1990, nine temples were demolished and damaged and during the 1991, sixteen temples were demolished and damaged.”(Kashmir Hindu Shrines by C.L.Gadoo)
In the aftermath of the demolition of Babri structure, erupted into widespread attack on the Hindu temples and places of worship. As many as 97 temples were burnt or damaged in the incidents of terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir from 1992 till July this year (1995) and 1747 civilians lost their lives in the last 19 months, the Lok Sabha was informed on August, 9, 1995. On the same day the minister of state in the prime minister’s office Mr. Bhuvanesh Chaturvedi said in a written reply, “31 temples were damaged only this year (1995) and added that security arrangements have been made in vulnerable areas including regular patrolling by security forces for the protection against attacks by militants.”
Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus is violation of not only Human Rights but also its Constitutional Rights. In a report on Kashmir by Amnesty International released in December 1993, it said, “Armed opposition groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been responsible for numerous and grave Human Rights abuses, including hostage taking, assassination of politicians and their families, deliberate killing of civilians including journalists, torture and rape….It urged all such groups to release all hostages and respect Human Rights and humanitarian standards.”
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in ruling on the June 11, 1999 stated that, “The commission is constrained to observe that acts akin to genocide have occurred with respect to Kashmiri Pandits.’ UN Secretary General at the 60th session on Human Rights in Geneva on 7th April,2004 observed, “When civilians are deliberately targeted because they belong to a particular community, we are in the presence of potential, if not actual genocide.” No enquiry commission has been constituted by State or Central Government so far to bring culprits to book who are responsible for genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus, nor the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has acted so far.
The Hindus have loved their land with greater spiritual and social commitments than the Muslims, because they are not imposters and they have been living in the valley, generation after generation, over thousands of years. They possess a greater sense of belonging, being the original inhabitants and owners of the rich ancestral heritage and have their roots in the geography of the land. They are not conquerors; they have risen from their soil!
Massacres of Hindus and Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir:
The JKLF terrorists were the first to wage war on the Kashmiri Pandits. Its cadres operating from the precincts of mosques and the first killings were resorted by the same outfit. S/Sh.Tika Lal Taploo, B.K. Gangoo, Navin Sapru, Ashok Kumar Qazi, Prem Nath Bhat, Sarwanand Koul Premi, T.K.Razadan, Nila Kanth Ganjoo were brutally massacred. The brutal killing of Sarla Bhat who was a nurse on the staff of the Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar was also the handiwork of JKLF. .The mass massacres were carried out at different places in the Kashmir province : at Sangrahampora where eight people were killed; at Wandahama in North Kashmir, in January 1998, where twenty three Hindus were killed; at Anantnag in South Kashmir, where twelve Bihari labourers were killed in July 1999; at Chattisinghpora where thirty-six Sikhs were killed in March 2000. On 21 March 1997 seven such Kashmiri Pandits were gunned down in Sangrampura village of Budgam district. (Daily Excelsior, Jammu, 23 March 1997) Another 23 Kashmiri Pandits including 10 men, 9 women and four children were huddled together in dark cold night of 26 January 1998, at Wandhama village in Ganderbal and mowed down by the Islamist terrorists. (Times of India, 27 January 1998) At Pahalgam where thirty-two Hindus, including twenty-nine pilgrims to Amarnath Shrine, were killed in August 2000, In February and March 2000, four Kashmiri Pandits, including an eight year old girl, were gunned down in Anantnag district of Kashmir, forcing the remaining 18 families out of their centuries old habitat. In early 2003, 24 members of the KP community were massacred at Nadimarg in Kashmir valley.
In the Jammu province, the mass massacres were widespread and the death-toll heavier. Seventeen Hindus were killed in Kishtwar during 13-14 August 1993; sixteen Hindus were killed in Kishtwar in January 1996; Seventeen Hindus were killed in Simber, Doda in May 1996; twenty-nine Hindus were killed in Dakhikot Prankot, Doda in January 1998; Eleven Hindus were killed in Dessa, Doda in May 1998, twenty nine Hindus were killed in Chapnari Doda, in June 1998; twenty Hindus were killed in separate terrorist attacks in Chinathakuri, and Shrawan, Doda in July 1998; seventeen Hindus were killed in Surankot Poonch in June 1999; fifteen Hindus wee killed in Thatri, Doda, in July 1999; seventeen Hindus were killed in Manjakot Rajouri in March 2001; fifteen Hindus were killed in Cherjimorah, Doda in July 2001’, Sixteen Hindus were killed in Sarothdhar, Doda in August 2001’, Thirty four Hindus were killed in Kaluchak, Jammu in May 2002; twenty-nine Hindus were killed in Rajiv Nagar, Jammu in July 2002; seventeen Hindus were killed in Udhampur in March 2003; twelve Hindus were killed in Surankote, Poonch in June 2004; ten Hindus were killed in Budhal, Rajouri in October 2005; three of a Hindu family were killed in Chaal, Udhampur in April 2006 and thirty Hindus were killed in Thana Kulhand, Doda in April 2007.
January 19, I 990 - The Longest Night by Capt. S.K. Tikoo (Retd.)
“Thirty years have already passed since that dreadful day, which turned into a never-ending night, when dawn that ends the darkness of the previous night so very naturally seemed to be a distant dream. When you think of those agonizing and tormenting hours of that night even today, your heart misses a beat. If you do not come out of that nightmarish experience immediately, there is every possibility of going into convulsions that could lead to a catastrophe. Such is the impact and the imprint of that day on our lives that you have to carry those scary and torturous memories with you till you are alive. Chilai-Kalan (the most severe period of winter in Kashmir) was at its worst. It had not snowed for quite some time, and the sub-zero temperature was sending a chill down our spine. On top of it, there was mounting tension in the air. Selective killings of Kashmiri Pandits had already started, and we were still awaiting some miracle to take place that could restore some semblance of normalcy. I, unlike other days, came home early at around 6 P.M. As usual, I parked my car on the main road near the then Kani Kadal Fire Station, just across the shop of the milkmaid, famous for her paneer (cheese) and then walked through the nine serpentine kochas (narrow lanes) leading to my home, situated on the eastern bank of Kuta Kohl, once a roaring tributary of Vitasta [River Jhelum]. All the houses on our side belonged to Pandits with the sole exception of the house belonging to Munnawar Sheikh, a well-respected trader of Kashmir Arts. The same was true on the western bank of Kuta Kohl, though in reverse, everyone on this bank was a Muslim with the sole exception of a house belonging to Moti Lal Bhan, who, as a teacher, had achieved celebrity status in his profession.
It will be interesting to recall my personal experiences of the horrible day preceding the deadly night of January 19, 1990. Mohan Chiragi, against heavy odds, had taken it on himself to bring out the Srinagar edition of the leading Urdu national newspaper Quami Awaz, which was already being published from New Delhi, Lucknow and Patna. The paper was an instant success, and its office in the Khidmat House on the bund at Abi Guzar, Srinagar, was a meeting point for all those who still dared to talk differently; against the militancy. The security of the staff of nearly 30 persons, all Kashmiri Muslims, consisting of reporters, correspondents, copyists, katibs (writers, scribes), photographers, and those on administrative duties, had to be taken care of. Working till late at night, these employees were keen to have me with them, and it suited both Chiragi and me. Though they were all carrying out their duties as dedicated newsmen, yet you could not rule out the possibility of someone leading them astray, if left alone. And why were the staffers keen that I stay with them till they closed down for the day; usually I 0:30 or 11 P.M.─ a deathly time those days? I was, in fact, their insurance. Tahir Mohi-ud-Din (now editor of very popular Urdu weekly Chat aan published from Srinagar) was the news editor, and he had to be left at his residence in Natipora. He was scared of crossing the Ram Bagh Bridge, where the security forces would subject anyone at that late hour, to a thorough search, which meant that the person had to stay out in the cold for quite some time, no matter what profession one belonged to. Morfat Qadiri, son of that legendry journalist, Qadiri Saheb, had to be dropped at Narsingh Garh. There were others who had to be dropped en-route at Tanki Pora, Dalhasanyar, and Bana Mohalla.
The real 'fun' would begin at Tankipora-Zaindar Mohalla, I thought. Incidentally, I discovered that the jeep we were traveling in was displaying Haz min fazal-i-rabi (task completed with the grace of God) in bold letters on its front bonnet. This legend was not there a few days back. Besides, Quami Awaz (Urdu language newspaper) written on its windscreen had been very discreetly obliterated. Coming back to Zaindar Mohalla. It was pitch-dark by the time we reached there, no street lights, no lights even in the residential houses on either side of the road. The atmosphere was very eerie, as if the entire city had been taken over by ghosts. As we moved on, the headlights suddenly lighted-up some creepy movement far ahead of us. The passengers in the jeep said in one voice, Bisam-i-Allah and Allah-o-Akbar. The driver immediately used the dipper thrice to signal to the now visible crowd, maybe 50 yards ahead of us, that we were a friendly lot. We slowed down as the hostile crowd of some 20 to 30 young boys surrounded us immediately. Two or three of them were displaying AK-47 rifles, and a few were having pistols in their hands. Soura-i-Yaseen was continuously recited by the staffers. Strangely, none seemed to be worried about me, despite the fact that they wanted me to take care of them, even when confronted by armed militants. We identified ourselves as journalists representing Kashmir Times (considered their newspaper by the militants). However, they singled me out and wanted me to step out of the jeep. I was calm, though the rest of my fellow passengers almost collapsed, expecting to see the last of me. There was furthers hock in store for my fellow passengers when they saw and heard me shouting at the leader of this bloodthirsty crowd, "Haya Ashqa (O!Ashiq) ... " Before I could complete the sentence, he came running towards me trying to hide his AK-47 rifle, and responded, "Papa, Tse kya chhukh yeti karan” (Papa, how come you are here?) I knew Ashq; a young, twenty-year-old six-footer, with an athletic build, since 1984, when he was a member of the youth wing of the Awami National Conference led by G. M. Shah (a former Chief Minister). He immediately ordered his crowd to get lost and allowed us to go. However, he soon changed his mind. Within a fraction of a second, the group re-assembled, and we were told that we could restart our journey only when we could not hear them anymore. With the engine of the jeep resting, the silence of the graveyard was broken all of a sudden by the bone-chilling chorus singing by the militants, led by Ashiq himself, moving in four abreast columns towards Haba Kadal being a Kashmiri Pandit locality.
On January 19, 1990, Bahadur, our helper, was home too, and so was my brother, Ashok. Bahadur lighted the coal Bukhari (stove), and we settled down to a hot cup of tea, exchanging blank glances. My mother, who had lost her vision almost entirely in both eyes, was the only one asking questions on the current situation. The clock on the wall showed it was already 7 P.M., and it was time to switch on the television for news. My sister from Narsing Garh, not far away from our house, was on the phone, "Papa, can you hear something ...?" She sounded nervous and scared. I could hear some sloganeering in the distance through my receiver, but could not make out what it was all about. It was scary, though. I tried to reassure my sister and wanted her to give more details. All that she could say was that huge crowds seem to be coming from Chhatabal area towards Karan Nagar, and they were raising anti-India, pro-Pakistan slogans. The cause of concern was that they were raising anti-Kashmiri Pandit slogans too. She wanted to confirm if such slogans were being raised elsewhere also. She was sure that her time was up, and she bid me a tearful good-bye. I was at my wit's end, not knowing what to do. I again rang her up, and she let me hear the loud and clear slogans raised apparently by huge crowds that were coming closer. I asked her to keep calm and not to lose hope. I once again assured her that all would be well within a few hours. But who could guarantee a few hours' of safety? Our area was still without commotion, but then a call came from Bana Mohalla. They, too, repeated the same but added that they had seen people coming out on roads, huddled upon groups, and sort of conspiring in hushed tones. Gradually it was the same situation all over the city. It seemed that the city had been taken over by JKLF, the only terrorist outfit operating then. It was 9 P.M., and we saw hordes of Muslims coming out on Guru Bazar bund, right opposite us, on the other side of KuttaKohl. They were not raising any slogans, but their loud whispers were reaching us loud and clear. There was a complete blackout on our side as all Kashmiri Pandit households had put off their lights, and all the family members were virtually huddled up in total darkness in a single room. On the other side of Kutta Kohl, which was now reduced to a drain, and which could be crossed on foot in less than five minutes, we saw some people pointing towards our house. We could distinctly hear them say, "Look, they are enjoying the warmth of the Bukhari (stove)...but for how long?" I, my brother, and Bahadur, too, failed to make out who they were. At this stage, we appeared to be out of harm's way. But suddenly the situation took a turn for the worse. One of my two telephones got disconnected. The other one whose cable came from the Muslim side, was, thankfully, in working order.
Now hundreds of Muslims came out of their homes, braving the cold. They started raising threatening slogans at a handshaking distance. The time now was 1I P.M. Now onwards, the time froze. I started receiving desperate calls, first from Bansi Parimoo; a little later from Rageshwari, both from Sanat Nagar; later from Wanabal and then Rawalpora. The end seemed a few minutes away as help was not coming from anywhere. I called up 'who's who' of Jammu and Kashmir Police. Some did not pick up the phone, and others sheepishly expressed their inability and helplessness to provide any assistance. I called Mohan Chiragi in Delhi and got all the phone numbers of those who mattered. One of them was the then Home Secretary, one Shiromani Sharma. He was sort of disturbed by my call and was shockingly surprised to hear that the situation in Kashmir was so bad. He confessed that nobody had informed him about this looming tragedy. He promised help. I did not stop there. I traced Mufti Mohammad Syed in Mumbai, where he was addressing a public meeting, and got in touch with him. It took me a lifetime to reach him. It was just past midnight when he came on the phone. He advised me not to panic as help was on the way.
I repeatedly called some of my Muslim friends and soon discovered that it was a futile exercise. There was one Muslim lady of Rawalpora, who sounded as worried and tense as we were; that was a big consolation. In the meantime, our immediate neighbors with whom we shared a common wall stealthily walked into our ground floor room to feel a little more secure in a larger group. My calls to the army did not mature, and the bloodthirsty hostile crowd seemed to be knocking at our doors. Death was imminent. Something had to be done and done very quickly. My brother and I chalked out a plan; plan to die heroically. There was one satisfaction: My brother’s children, Anu and Chandan, were safe in Delhi. We had seen them off along with photo-journalist Mushtaq at Srinagar airport only a few days earlier. Surprisingly, everybody in our neighborhood was convinced that we had lots of weapons in our home, though the fact was that my brother Ashok had just one double-barrel licensed gun at home. We had a box full of cartridges too. We appreciated that the frontal attack would come from across the Kutta Kohl. If that happened, we decided to fire as many rounds as possible, killing or injuring anyone coming in our line of fire. In the meantime, we prepared the womenfolk to lay down their lives by self-immolation. A can full of kerosene oil was kept handy. It goes to the credit of my mother and her age-old friend Rupavati, to volunteer for this kind of death. Even Bahadur's wife and her two young kids prepared themselves for the ultimate sacrifice. As the last attempt, I called an army phone number in Udhampur. I was assured by an officer of the rank of a major that a column of soldiers was ready, and it would move out from Badami Bagh Cantonment soon. We waited, but no help came.
The night seemed never-ending. It was at 3 A.M. that I called the Muslim lady in Rawalpora once again. She sounded a little relaxed. I connected the movement of the army column that I was just assured of, with her near positive response. I calculated that the army would have reached Rawalpora first through the by-pass, and hence the lady appeared less panicky. But my calculations proved ill-founded when she clarified that her neighbor, a senior politician, and a former minister had joined the militant processions, and on his advice, her husband too had joined the anti-Indian marches, some of whom were armed to the teeth. She further said that they were convinced that Azadi was only a few days away, and they could ill-afford not to be seen as part of this victorious procession.
Incidentally, both these gentlemen are living today, while one of them retired as Chief Justice of a State High Court, the other rose to be a cabinet minister once again. The last to call me around this time was Inder Krishen Raina from Ishbar. He informed me that the hostile crowds had come out on the roads even at that late hour, to ensure that they were not denied their share of Azadi, now at hand. By now, one thing was quite certain; Kashmiri Pandits, all across the city of Srinagar were waiting with bated breath for the certain eventuality ─ death at the hands of their one time neighbors, who were prowling the streets, raising venomous anti-Pandit slogans. There was no news from the rest of the Valley. The time just past 4 A.M., But that hardly made any difference, as the menacing crowd just a few meters away from our doors, was more restive than an hour earlier, even when the temperature outdoors had dipped to around seven degrees Celsius below zero. The battle cry of Ya Ali! Ya Ali! Grew louder and closer. As the womenfolk, huddled together, started chanting Shiv Shiv Shambu, we loaded the gun. The end seemed away. But nothing happened. Ashok looked at me, and we concluded that the marauding crowds were probably waiting for a signal to attack the Pandits simultaneously all over the city. Why else should they have not attacked us after raising that battle cry? After all, it would not take more than a million strong agitating bloodthirsty mobs parading the city streets for almost nine hours, to decimate the already almost frozen-to-death Pandits in a jiffy. I made another call to that major in Udhampur. This time he gave me a telephone number of some other officers in Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar. I called him, and to my surprise, he responded immediately, assuring me that the column was ready, and they were awaiting the orders from the civil authority. "Where is the civil authority?" I retorted. But alas! He had disconnected the line. Waiting for the inevitable, the deathly silence was broken by the howling of stray dogs.
My mother was the first to hear the Azan (call for Muslim Morning Prayer) from a distant mosque. She said excitedly, "tala, gash ha aao" (look, it is dawn!). We removed part of the curtain hesitatingly and could see the silhouette of huge crowds, now unbelievably silent, disappearing into narrow lanes. Within a few minutes, with better visibility, we could hardly see anybody on the bund across the Kutta Kohl. Was it a jumbo reprieve. We learned later that our house was the target. It was not attacked for fear of massive reprisals. After all, the Islamists were convinced that our home was arms and ammunition dump. They apprehended that we had the capacity to take on the ill-armed hordes, even if they came in large numbers. But why did they not demolish the rest of us? Who and what saved us that night? The answers are still not clear. And look at our naivete; most of us continued to live there after surviving this nightmare.”
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*Chaman Lal Gadoo