Swarn Kishore Singh
Pogal Paristan, now a tehsil in district Ramban, was just a revenue village around two decades ago; this 2nd August marks the 24th anniversary of the murderous campaign of jihadi terrorists across the terrains of Pogal Paristan, Ramban. Prior to this massacre, this village was last rocked a few years ago in 1993, with the murder of two youngmen who were killed in a span of three weeks just because they had affiliations with Rashtriya Syawamsewak Sangh, a Hindu right-wing organization. One of them, namely Bhabhishan Singh, was dragged through the area, beaten, nails uprooted, teeth fragmented, legs fractured and then finally, after the blatant exhibition of his instrumentalized torture and murder, was hanged to a tree near Panthyal Bridge. Those two were murdered and the rest were warned to keep a distance from RSS and keep themselves ready to recite Kalma very soon.
On the intervening night of 1st & 2nd August 2000, some 25 terrorists, after preparing themselves in a neighboring hamlet, dressed in army camouflages and taking their local support along, arrived in Kunda, Pogal, to avenge the death of one of their fellow jihadi colleagues, who was eliminated by army a week ago in a nearby village. By their conduct, it was obvious that they had all the information about the village preparing for the marriage of one of their daughters the next day. As per their standard modus operandi, the terrorists ordered a gathering of all male members of the village in a small room; 12 of them, ageing from 14 years to 75 years. The jihadis fired at those 12 persons indiscriminately for 5 minutes, killing them all. It was the bloodiest affair Pogal Paristan had ever witnessed. Not only this but while the terrorists were on their retreat towards higher reaches, they killed 5 shepherds in Gujjar-behak (a meadow on Mt. Hans Raj). In another hamlet, namely Kharwan, they killed 4 more people the same night. So, the terrorists struck at different places across the stretch of Pogal Paristan and committed 21 murders that night only.
Such was the fear of jihadis that for the next 96 hours, some of the dead bodies were not picked for their final rites. The Hindu families in the vicinities had vacated the whole area for some safer places in Ramban. It was only after the mountains were cordoned off and terrorists combed away that the bodies were picked from different places and final rites performed. Imagine a scene wherein around two dozen pyres are lit in one go and all they had done to deserve death was their religious belief; that they were Hindus. The liberals who went awry for the Yogi government’s order to display names of the owners of shops need to be schooled on the fact that Hindus were consistently persecuted for being Hindus only, that too in a part of India only.
Some time ago, I visited the village Kunda (Pogal), in fact, the very room where those 12 person were murdered. A chat with the families of the victims was too painful and terrifying; a mother telling a story of the murder of her son, a son narrating a tale of the killing of his father and a widow explaining how her husband was massacred in front of their eyes; Tormenting, it was!
See the hypocrisy; the Government of Farooq Abdullah & Mufti Sayeed had rehabilitation policy for terrorists but couldn’t afford a sympathetic eye for the victims of persistent persecutions? Up till now, there have been no reparations or repatriations for the victims and ostensibly no retribution for those butchers.
The massacre of Pogal was the point after which a full-fledged mass migration of Hindus could have had a massive trigger but it was the then Union government led by Atal ji that Hindus got weapons in their hands to defend themselves or the whole trio of hilly districts, i.e. Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban would have got vacated of Hindus. These three districts would have become just like Pulwama or Baramulla, with few token examples of Hindus living there. After getting VDCs, Hindus started reacting differently; they stood by their people, stood for their land and didn’t desert the land of sacrifices of their people; instead, they eke out their lifestyle by adopting some newer survival tactics. After VDCs were constituted, terrorists did hit a hamlet in Sonwa Maligam. Four brothers each with a set of 100 bullets and a three-not-three rifle fought an army of more than 40 terrorists with LMGs, AK-47s and grenades. All four brothers were martyred and one girl was injured by the shrapnel of a grenade but before attaining martyrdom the brothers eliminated a terrorist too and even saved their families.
After around more than 3 decades of persecution and butchery of Hindus, we finally have a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the recent judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court. The Apex Court, in the judgment delivered in the abrogation of Article 370 matter, has specifically passed directions for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to find out the real Truth behind the holocaust of Hindus. Since the Apex Court has done its part, it is for the union government to finally show some spine, give appeasement a break and order the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission so that the real truth comes out. Although by now the eco-system would have sanitized the papers but this commission should be established to ensure history doesn’t miss the blood stains of innocent Hindus. The Hindus have faced such a degree of violence that mere disclosure of truth and identification of the real butchers of Hindus and their support system will serve the ends of justice for them. We had a lot of bright and young sons who were slaughtered, butchered and mutilated mercilessly, but alas, they were Hindus, hence no PR material.
We have an example when a 24 bullets-ridden body of Krishan Singh (Chapnari, Banihal), which was recovered after 4 days, was not considered for a proper investigation by J&K Police. The terrorists, after days of murdering him, set his house on fire and threatened his family to leave their land; otherwise, the remaining lot would meet the same fate. In Kashmir, even fake charges of rape and murder managed by some rigged reports of sold-off doctors triggered full-fledged investigations and trials of army personnel, but in this part of Jammu & Kashmir, even a full-fledged massacre could not yield a proper investigation. Unfortunately, after decades of holocaust, some political migratory beings have chosen to pepper the wounds of the victim families when they have openly bragged about orchestrating the massacre; police should investigate their roles and even bring them to book without even considering their changing political affiliations. Finally I will quote an Urdu couplet I had read somewhere which sums up the injustice meted to Hindus in Jammu & Kashmir; “Kuchh zulm-o-sitam sehne ki aadat bhi hai ham ko, kuchh ye hai ki darbar mein sunvayi bhi kam hai”.
(The author is an advocate and a political analyst.)
Follow our WhatsApp channel