Prof.A.N.Sadhu
Twenty six years have passed since the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley of Kashmir took place. The chill of 2016 January painfully reminds the exiles of the chill of 1990 January when they were forced out of their homes and hearths.. The Kashmiri Hindus had no other option than to leave without knowing where to go. They landed in different parts of the country and spent several nights under the naked sky without food and shelter, The January 2016 is not far too different for them except that they have conditioned themselves to live in harsh circumstances.
Why should exodus of ab-origins, have taken place when they have over 500 years of history behind them in this part of the country. The un rest started in 1986 and it did not alarm the local administration about the events that were likely to shape in the coming years. Did intelligence agencies not work or did the administration ignore their inputs? Did the administration suffer from absolute incompetence or indifference towards its social and administrative responsibility? There are many such baffling question the answers to which the history will have to explore. There is no doubt that our neighboring country was harbouring evil designs about our country right from 1947 and thereafter, with greater intensity, since 1971, when it suffered a humiliating defeat in the hands of our distinguished army. But was it far too difficult to apprehend and take necessary safeguards against the nefarious activities of our hostile neighbor. It needs a thorough probe. It needs a commission of enquiry. Truth has to be unraveled. As one looks back, the displaced community of Kashmiri Pandits have played a significant role in all spheres of life for the upliftment of the state. At different stages of history Kashmir has been at its zenth in scholarship and statecraft. The present socio economic and political set up ows a lot to this community. The community has been a great contributor to the socio cultural life of Kashmir. Till the rule of Kota Rani, the eminent persons such as Abhinav Gupt, Bano Bhat, Kalhan, Avanti Verman and others distinguished themselves as Administrators, Historians and scholars. Outstanding contributions were made to the enrichment of socio cultural life of Kashmir, a land known for peaceful co existence and free from all kinds of strife. That such a scholarly and peace loving community should face a mass exodus under threat to their life, property and dignity will remain a sad commentary on the contemporary history.
The process of evolution is a continuous one. The human society moves on and so do the situations in which the people are cast. Each day that passes adds a page to human history. The twenty six years post exodus evolution of the displaced community has already produced volumes of literature which provide sufficient material to the historians for writing the history of this period in an objective manner. A remarkable thing that has happened in the community of Kashmiri Pandits during these twenty six years is the explosion of literary activities. Be it prose, poetry or other forms of literary compositions, these have been produced in abundance. It bears a testimony to the fact that such harsh situations bring the best of inner feelings to the fore and reveal, in unambiguous words the pain and pathos of a people in distress, it equally reveals the strength and unstoppable urge of great communities to compromise hardships and never relent on the pursuit towards, not only survival but to excellence as well.
Living in very harsh conditions, particularly upto 2005, the displaced families did not ignore their responsibility towards educating their children and bringing them up in the best traditions that this community has set in the past. Living in one room tenements, the children managed to pursue their studies and bring laurels to their educational institutions and their families as well. Our youth is holding very high professional and managerial positions not only in the country but all over the world. However, quite a large section of the youth who had to study in migrant schools could not do as well because these schools are ill equipped to provide the required level of education to the children. Both physical and academic infrastructure is inadequate resulting into poor quality of teaching and instruction to these children. In terms of social evolution of the community in these years, a lots of things have happened which need to be taken note of. Social critics will examine these things and draw the required inferences but a few things are glaring which cannot escape our attention. “Do in Rome as Romans do” has had its impact on celebrations of social ceremonies and festivities. Part of the changes that are noticed may have resulted as a natural phenomena owing to changes in life style and living conditions but part of it is certainly as an imitation and display of modernization in the loose sense of the term. Inter caste marriages in a significant proportion is another factor of the social evolution which cannot be lost sight of. Language is another factor which warrants attention. Mother Tongue is one of the most powerful instruments of social and cultural education and a strong characteristic of ethnic identity. The last twenty six years have witnessed a significant dispersal of the community and it has had its toll on the language. All efforts will have to be made to preserve Kashmiri mother tongue and pass this rich heritage to the posterity.
As regards economic and political evolution, the community has suffered severe deprivation. Landed properties have been left behind. These have been encroached upon and in many cases, grabed by the land mafia and anti social elements. In a significant measure, these properties have witnessed distress sale, sometimes, because the owner had, nothing to fall back upon to meet the family requirements and many a times, the distress, sale took place under threat and mischief by the elements who engineered designs to dispossess the owner of these properties. The period also witnessed complete lack of employment opportunities to the youth of the community. No assistance was provided to the unemployed youth for setting up their own enterprise and other self employment pursuits. Educational and medical assistance did not exist as a result of poor quality education and physical fitness, the youth suffered on various counts.
Politically the community stands completely marginalized. There has been no representation in the legislative assembly except during the period 2002-03 when the lone Kashmiri Pandit got elected to the assembly because of his personal efforts. Never ever has any member of the community been considered for any political office. The community has made rich contributions to the evolution of a democratic and secular political set up of the state in the past and it has completely been lost sight of while preparing the political set up during the post exodus period. Even the political participation of the community remained restricted because of plethora of paper formalities that needed to be completed before one could become an eligible voter. The community stands absolutely impoverished on this front . The demography of the community is also not in any robust condition. Living in very harsh conditions, has had its toll on the members.
As of now , the community is passing through a crucial phase of transformation. One of the noticeable phenomena is its extensive dispersal through out the world. This has created a serious conflict between the traditional family life style and the present compulsive life style. The youth is faced with the compulsions of dispersal and the old are uncomfortably placed as they don’t find it easy to cope up with the challenges of the dispersal. This has created a unique situation in which one finds the old and the aged getting separated from their youth. The phenomena may not be unique only to this community but it certainly is a recent one and would require sometime to get accepted as a new norm of family life. The present is closely connected with the future and unless one builds that vision of the future, distortions may take place threatening the ad verse future fall out on the entire socio economic and political spectrum of the community. The social and political leadership of the community shall have to think collectively and assess the future implications of what is being witnessed now as a result of socio cultural transformation of the community. In a way the community is heading towards a kind of dualism characterized by both economic and geographic status. It is demanded of the wise men to rise to the occasion and build safeguards against any pitfalls arising out of a situation. The community of Kashmiri Pandits should feel proud of themselves for having stood firm and stead fast to steer the community through turbulent times and protect their dignity. Quite a lot more is required to be done which demands a united approach and a concerted effort. Come what may, the rich heritage has to be preserved and safeguards for a grand future to be provided.
All that has happened during the last 26 years at state levels, national level and in this part of the world cannot be ignored. Even though the world, as a whole, has become turbulent, this part of the globe is more sensitive in a geo political perspective and the state and central leadership is charged with responsibility of handling the situation in a manner as would not go against the interests of the nation and the nationalists who have worked hard for the nation. Kashmiri Pandit intellectuals have cautioned the leadership from time to time, about the imminent dangers and it is for the leadership to exercise caution in taking the timely corrective measures so that the future does not curse them for having failed to discharge their national obligations.
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