A new compact with whom?

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!