Sometime last week I
heard the news about the report from J&K interlocutors being now available.
Immediately there were reactions across different segment of people about the
various points raised in the report. I wanted to read the report thoroughly
myself. I did that over this weekend. To sum it up in one line, reading through
the report was a very depressing experience, but not entirely unexpected.
Over the last two
decades of living a life of an exile within our own country, we have understood
that the Government of India is not bothered about a minority community that
doesn’t show up as a vote bank. We have realized that we are caught between the
devil and the deep sea. On one hand we are Hindus, considered to be the
majority in India, hence never given any special status. In fact, the moment
anybody speaks for our rights, the person is quickly labeled as a communal! On
the other hand, we are a single digit percentage of population in the valley,
hence too small to make any difference to anybody winning an election.
The report from the
interlocutors is on the same lines, as far as Kashmiri Pandits is concerned.
While pages after pages are written about how the Kashmiri Muslims are feeling
alienated, the issue of Kashmiri Pandits is completely ignored. Yes, Kashmiri Pandits
have been mentioned at some places in the report - but there is no details on
the issues they face in exile, there is no mention of crimes committed against
them, there is no mention of how should their tormentors be dealt with. Only
thing the report keeps harping on is - Kashmiri Pandits should be rehabilitated
in the valley. Even that is complete hand waving - there are no details on how
that is to be accomplished, there is no detail on how should it be ensured that
they lead a life of honor and dignity in their homeland, there is no detail on
how should it be ensured that they do not have to face the same atrocities
again!
There is a leap of
faith that making Article 370 a permanent clause in the constitution will
ensure all Kashmiri Muslims will swear by their Indian citizenship. There is
another leap of faith that opening cross border trade across the LOC will make
the separatists shun violence. There are many more such vague assumptions in
the report. All this to ensure that the Kashmiri Muslims feel they will get
what they want, and they can lead a free life. What about Kashmiri Pandits? How
do the interlocutors think their faith in constitution of J&K will be
improved? How do the interlocutors propose to solve the alienation of Kashmiri
Pandits from the majority community in the Kashmir valley? If Kashmiri Muslims
feel their distinct identity can only be protected by these special provisions
for Kashmir, why doesn’t the same principle apply to Kashmiri Pandits? Why
can't there be a portion in the Kashmir valley that has other special
provisions that will build the confidence of Kashmiri Pandits to lead a life of
honor and dignity?
There is no mention
of the demands of Kashmiri Pandits to bring out a whitepaper on the reasons of
the community being forced out of the valley. No mention of the demand to
identify and punish the terrorists responsible for the gruesome violence
perpetrated on the community since 1989/90. No mention of the demand to accord
minority status to the Kashmiri Pandits. No mention of the rapid attempts to
change the demographics of the Kashmir valley by renaming ancient places in the
valley - e.g., changing the name of the acnient Anantnag town to Islamabad,
Shankracharya temple to Takht-e-suleman, Hari Parbat to Koh-i-maran, even
Srinagar to Sheher-e-khas! No mention of the desecration and destruction of
hundreds of hindu temples in the valley. No responsibility given to the state
Government to ensure the restoration of the temples to their rightful glory and
protection of the temples and their property! The list goes on and on. The
community has been treated like a spec of dust that is expected to settle down
on its own!!!
The
current report only focuses on ensuring appeasement of the majority community
in the valley, without considering the fallout of such recommendation on the
minority community of the valley, and to the very existence of our country! I
have only mentioned some points for the perspective of Kashmiri Pandit
community. As an Indian citizen, this report is full of recommendations that
directly hurt the core fabric of our nation! It is ironic that a party that was
formed by the epitome of non-violence considers only the viewpoints of those
that use violence to state their demands, that too when the ruling party is
headed by the family that bears the surname of the Guru of Ahimsa! We, Kashmiri
Pandits, out rightly reject this report!
