Imagine you and your family live in a house which has been passed on to you by your ancestors. Now, what if one day some outsiders invade your home and throw you out on the pavement at gunpoint. Adding insult to injury, they start dictating terms inside the house. How would you feel? Would you tolerate it? No way.
That is the story of the Kashmiri Pandits (KP’s).
The history of Kashmir, like many other North-Indian states has witnessed violence and devastation. The KP’s were mercilessly killed and converted which ultimately resulted in Kashmir becoming predominantly Muslim region.
At one point, only eleven families of Pandits remained in the Valley. Walter Roper Lawrence, who visited Kashmir in 1889 as the British Land Settlement Commissioner, mentions this in his note on Kashmiri Pandits in his book 'The Valley of Kashmir'.
So, the recent violence in the valley, obviously has its roots entrenched deep in the history.
In late 1989 and early 1990, the Kashmiri Pandit minority was targeted by Islamic fundamentalists and socially victimized by a significant proportion of the Kashmiri Muslim population.
The ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits continues, with anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh threats being made to them by terrorists as recently as last week.
Now going back to the recent violence in the valley, the protesting people are demanding an Azad Kashmir, free from India and Pakistan.
The separatists are trying to portray the picture that every single Kashmiri hates India and wants to be free, which is an absolute farce. As I had personally met some Kashmiri muslim students few weeks back who were staunchly supporting India and cursed the separatists.
They were in Delhi to meet political leaders to find a solution to the crisis in the valley.
Basically, the notion of an Azad Kashmir is a Pakistani propaganda, being carried out by the separatists on their behalf.
The separatists love to talk lividly on how there should be an Azad Kashmir. How they do not need India to meddle in their affairs and how they can take care of Kashmir themselves.
Well, I have just one question for them, WHO THE HELL ARE THEY TO DIVIDE AND DECIDE THE FUTURE OF KASHMIR ALONE? The so called Kashmir that they represent has no Kashmiri Pandits, no Dogras, no Sikhs and no Gujjars- who were all part of the valley just a few decades back. What about all of us? Who will represent our voices? How can a plebiscite take place after a massive demographic change?
This is a showcase of childish behaviour by the separatists.
The separatists talk about how the local Kashmiris are suffering and the KP’s have long left the valley and have no idea about the trauma that the locals are suffering.
Well, as long as suffering goes, lakhs of KP’s who till a couple of decades back dwelled in mansions are now living in refugee camps in Jammu or refugee colonies spread across the national Capital Region.
Our grandparents still long for their homes with tears in their eyes. We never left our motherland…WE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE AT GUN POINT.
The good thing about KP’s is that we are educated and literate. Why? Because it is this very reason that WE did not take up arms. Otherwise whatever happened with us was a good enough reason to turn many of us into terrorists and wage a war against those who threw us out.
That includes the separatists and the locals who assisted them. They should be thankful to KP’s that like Huriyat Conference we did not form a Kashmiri Pandit’s Liberation Army (KPLA) armed with AK 47’s and Grenades.
Sadly, there are some people in this country who support the idea of an Azad Kasmir, most of whom are the Kasmiri muslims who have migrated to cities for a better life. They have no qualms in travelling by metro, watching movies hindi movies in multiplexes and shopping in malls.
But the minute you talk to them about the troubles in the valley, their blood boils. They immediately start ranting about an Azad Kashmir. So, my dear friends if you are so hell bent on separating form India, then why the hell are you even present here? These are there double standards.
The dim-witted separatist leaders are obviously hungry for power and dream of an Azad Kashmir where they and their future generations will rule. But what these oblivious people do not understand is that if I happens, being a landlocked region with three nuclear countries on each side, they will eventually be swallowed by one or the other.
There are also some foolish Indians who support the theory of an Azad Kashmir, they are just a bunch of pseudo-intellectual buffoons who like to talk about the atrocities in Kashmir while greasing their throats with scotch on the rocks at a page 3 party.
I am a KP and want Kashmir to remain with India. Parts of Kashmir are already occupied by Pakistan (PoK) and China (Aksai Chin), it should not be divided anymore at any cost. If the separatists do not agree with this, then let them go to hell.
Kashmir cannot be divided just because some politically instigated violence is killing people over there. Even the KP’s were killed mercilessly in 1980. But this absolutely does not justifies the violence in the valley. It should stop but not at the cost of an Azad Kashmir.
Come to think of it, the ethnic cleansing of KP’s was not at all possible without the involvement and support of the locals. The whole situation in Kashmir can be suitable explained in one line- What goes around comes around!
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