Sir,
While reading your article “Genocide in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir ” published in Excelsior on 25 November 2021, my heart suddenly started beating fast and for a while picture of the tales of atrocities that I had heard from my father as a young child emerged into my eyes like a horror movie. Our family was lucky because my father being in the State Forces was stationed in Jammu, while our entire paternal side was in Mirpur. I remember having been told by my father how my grandmother was killed and her young granddaughter snatched by the brutes and how my aunt preferred to die to save her honour. Even my father’s maternal family could escape from Peshawar because they were armed and had to fight their escape while losing some female folk enroute. All this became vividly alive in my eyes, leaving very sad for sometime. As regards improvement of relations, it is just impossible because Pakistani mindset has not changed. The hatred for Hindus in their backyard, unless removed, we can never be friends and unfortunately that’s there “State Policy”. However, the only hope is our Prime Minister Modi. And if the Nation in its wisdom ensures to keep him in power, many of us can hope in our life time to see Mirpur as to how does our ancestral place looks like now. Because I have faith in my Prime Minister because what he says, he does it.”
Lt Col Lalit Gupta( Retd )
800- A, Gandhinagar