Return of Pandits to Kashmir

By Col Tej Kumar Tikoo

17 Sep , 2015

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/return-of-pandits-to-kashmir/

Return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley is the biggest challenge to the very idea of India as a multi-ethnic, plural and secular democracy. Therefore, restoration of that position must remain India’s ultimate aim in Kashmir.

Displaced people have a right to return to their native places. According to UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the provisions of the Indian Constitution, it is the responsibility of the Government of India to create conducive conditions for Pandits to return safely and honourably to their habitual place of residence. UN Guideline 28 is quite categorical on this issue. It states, “Competent authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to establish conditions, as well as provide means, which allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes or places of habitual residence.” This involves the following:

Guaranteeing their safety and security.

Protecting their ‘Fundamental Rights’ as enshrined in the Constitution of India and honouring the same as universally accepted.

Unhindered freedom of movement.

Protecting their inalienable right to livelihood with dignity and honour.

Providing adequate opportunity to enable them to participate in the affairs of their community.

Must have a guaranteed right to be consulted in the matters that concern the welfare, identity, religious freedom and cultural well-being of their own community.

Adopting such measures which would reinforce their sense of belonging as a necessary pre-condition for their re-integration into the Valley’s social milieu.

Their economic well-being will have to be ensured through a mechanism that will ensure their economic rehabilitation at their usual place of residence, or at a mutually acceptable place. Following must form part of economic package:

• Loss of property must be completely compensated.

• Availability of generous loans on low interests for rebuilding their houses and restarting their businesses.

• Provision of relief for loss of agricultural assets.

…they (Pandits’) played no role even in deciding issues that greatly impacted their own community. This will have to be rectified if Pandits are to live in Kashmir with dignity and honour.

It is generally accepted that people displaced as a result of wars, conflicts or other natural calamities, be able to return to their homeland, once the turbulence has subsided. But this is contingent upon the fact that normalcy has been restored. In the case of Kashmiri Pandits, the moot point is whether the desired level of normalcy has been restored or not?

Kashmiri Pandits, particularly those living in camps, yearn to return to the Valley. They are overwhelmingly nostalgic while expressing their desire to return to their roots in Kashmir. In a survey conducted among displaced Pandits in 2005, to assess the pre-conditions of their return to Kashmir; security emerged as the overriding consideration, followed by their desire to have a secure area in the Valley, to settle in, preferably enjoying Union Territory status. These preferences were, in turn, followed by a need to be provided with social security, complete economic rehabilitation and reservation in jobs; the last being the choice of those displaced from rural areas of Kashmir. Many linked their return to the Valley with the necessity of their being politically empowered as a pre-condition. Therefore, the essentials pre-requisites that must be available to the displaced Pandits on return are; ability of Kashmiri Pandits to protect, promote and live according to their cultural traditions; be able to live without fear, without being discriminated against by the state or the Muslim majority population of the valley; be able to live in a secure environment that guarantees right to life and property of each individual; enjoy all democratic rights in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution.

Having been deprived of any role in political decision-making, Pandits’ alienation from the mainstream has been complete. As a matter of fact, they played no role even in deciding issues that greatly impacted their own community. This will have to be rectified if Pandits are to live in Kashmir with dignity and honour. That will be possible if a statutory body is created to oversee the rehabilitation of Pandits in the Valley and provide them with constitutional safeguards so that they are not pushed out again in future. As Dr Ajay Chrungoo, President ‘Panun Kashmir’, said, “Pandits’ return to the Valley needs a new constitutional dispensation with ingredients which will retain them in the Valley on lasting basis.”1

The return to the Valley with honour and dignity is one of the top most priorities of the State Government.” The last attempt made by the Mufti’s Government in 2003, envisaging settling the refugees in Mattan and Tullamulla, in two more clusters, was put paid to due to Nandimarg massacre.

On a few occasions in the past, the state government has shown some urgency in dealing with the issue of return of Pandits to Kashmir. In November, 1997, it stated, “The matter of safe return of refugees to their native places in the Valley is of top most priority for the State Government… the State Government had constituted a sub-committee headed by Financial Commissioner (Planning and Development) to draw up an action plan… which was submitted in July 97.” As a consequence, a group of refugees visited the Valley to interact with their neighbours to renew their old contacts. In 1997, an Act called the “J&K Kashmiri Refugees Immoveable Properties (Preservation, Protection and Restraint of Distress Sale – 1997) was passed. Later, the same year, another Act, called the Jammu and Kashmir Refugees (Stay Proceedings) Act, 1997, was also passed. In 1999, it was envisaged that 2,000 families could be moved into 15 clusters of 166 homes still intact in the Valley, where security was available. An amount of ` 44 crores was made available for this purpose. However, families refused to return for various reasons. In August 2002, a statement made in the Rajya Sabha said, “…The return to the Valley with honour and dignity is one of the top most priorities of the State Government.” The last attempt made by the Mufti’s Government in 2003, envisaging settling the refugees in Mattan and Tullamulla, in two more clusters, was put paid to due to Nandimarg massacre.

Events in Kashmir since 2000, when conditions in the Valley started improving, have not induced much confidence among the displaced Pandits. Whenever serious steps were afoot to rehabilitate the Pandits in the Valley, the militants struck with great ferocity, killing Hindus and Sikhs to convey their opposition to the proposal. In the process, many innocent men, women and children were killed. It has been Pandits’ experience that whenever there is a talk of their likely to return to the Valley, there is invariably a violent event that targets the remaining few Kashmiri Pandits, who still continue to live there, sending a chilling message to those who are contemplating such a return. During Mufti Mohammad Syed’s rule, when loud-thinking about the return of Pandits could be heard in the corridors of power (coupled with the construction of clusters of flats in Budgam, etc.), Nandimarg massacre took place in the dead of night (2.30 A.M.) on March, 24, 2003, in which 24 Kashmiri Pandits, including 11 men, 11 women and 2 children were brutally murdered. The murders were committed to deter Pandits from returning to Kashmir and send a message to those persuading the Pandits to return. This put an end to any talk about Pandit’s return, at least for the time being.

The diffidence of the Pandits to return to the Valley on account of their security concerns can be gauged from the fact that despite a reasonably attractive package announced by the State government in its budget proposal in 2009, only 300 families expressed their willingness. This was in addition to 934 families that had registered themselves for their return in 2008, after the Prime Minister had announced a similar package. This forms just two per cent of the total number of registered displaced families (55,476). It is not a random killing due to a stray grenade attack on security forces or being an unintended victim of cross-firing, etc., that scares the Pandits. It is the fear of being the targets of well-planned massacres, like Wandhama, Chhitisingpora and Nandimarg, that scares them and justifiably so.

While playing marbles, the Kashmiri Muslim children name the targeted marble as Bhatta, (Kashmiri Pandit).

Events of 2008 and 2010 in Kashmir further shattered the Pandits’ confidence in the ability of the government to provide them with adequate security on their return to the Valley. Mass agitations launched by separatists on Amarnath land transfer issue in 2008, and orchestrated stone-pelting that paralysed the entire Valley during the summer of 2010, was a serious setback to the cherished desire of those Pandits who wanted to return to Kashmir. These agitations, spearheaded by separatists, attracted huge participation, indicating the ability of these militant leaders to whip up mass hysteria, which the vested interests can easily turn against the Pandits.

Sometime back the State government’s formulation of a ‘Surrender Policy’ for the militants further eroded the confidence of the Pandits regarding the intentions of the government. The policy was aimed at allowing those Kashmiri youth who had crossed over to Pakistan/PoK to return to the Valley and rehabilitate them. There are nearly 800 of them in the militant camps and many of them have married the local girls, whose children are now Pakistani citizens. That such people can pose a serious threat to Pandits was totally overlooked and did little to instill confidence in the latter. This sinister policy has created great apprehensions in the minds of Pandits who suffered at their hands.

Rehabilitation of Pandits in the Valley is itself going to be a nightmare for the State administration. A large number of houses belonging to the community have been burnt/destroyed, and out of the remaining, about 80 per cent houses have been sold out as part of distress sale. The remaining 20 per cent have been occupied by security forces on rental basis. Getting these premises vacated is proving a herculean task. One wonders whether any thought has been given to this aspect. Till permanent arrangements for their rehabilitation in the Valley are made, there would be a need for huge transit accommodation. Besides, it will need careful planning on many fronts; creating means of earning a livelihood, housing, adequate compensation for losses suffered; return of houses, factories, orchards, lands, etc., wherever these are still in functional order. To encourage the refugee youth to return to the Valley, the private sector should be encouraged to employ them by opening up its outlets in Kashmir.

The militant organisations have openly opposed the return of Pandits to the ‘Islamic Kashmir’.

One of the biggest obstacles to the return of Pandits is going to be their re-integration into the social milieu of the Valley. A complete generation has grown up in the Valley without ever having interacted with Pandits. This has robbed the Kashmiri society of a chance to live in an environment where there are ‘others’ besides Muslims. For Kashmiri Pandits it will be easier to fit into a purely Muslim dominated social milieu, but it will be next to impossible for the younger generation of Valley Muslims to share social space based on interaction with non-Muslims. This is further made worse by the fact that during this period, the fundamentalist Muslim preachers, namely Salafists, Wahabis and their ilk, have brainwashed the entire generation into adopting a more intolerant stance towards Kashmiri Pandits. The following examples will suffice:

A slogan has recently been coined to describe the return to the Valley of some women employees who were given jobs as part of the Prime Minister’s relief package. One of the pre-conditions laid down by the state government before issuing appointment letters to these women employees was that they would have to serve in the Valley itself. The slogan goes something like this:

‘Bud budani rooze tapas, yazzat soozukh vaapas’

(The old men and women preferred to stay in the scorching sun, but they chose to send their honour back to the Valley)

While playing marbles, the Kashmiri Muslim children name the targeted marble as Bhatta, (Kashmiri Pandit).

Kashmiri Pandits have further been discouraged from contemplating return to the Valley because of the step-motherly treatment meted out by the State government to those Kashmiri Pandits who are still left behind in the valley. Their sad plight was very much evident when the NCM visited the Valley recently. According to NCM, there were 3,700 Kashmir Pandit families in the Valley in March 2011. During their interaction with the beleaguered Pandits, they found that they had been left to the wolves, with no one in the government sparing any thought for them. Seeing their pathetic condition the NCM noted, “that the State Government was not doing enough for the welfare of Kashmiri Pandits left behind in the Valley. They were found to be even worse off than the refugee Kashmiri Pandits, who have better access to employment and educational opportunities outside the State.” Seeing their condition, Chairman of the NCM was moved to say “I have met several Kashmiri Hindu families, which stayed back in the Valley. Today, their wards barely have access to jobs, while those of the refugee Kashmiri Pandits are much better placed because they had moved out and managed a better education, besides the benefits of the state schemes for the Kashmiri refugees. Those who stayed back are now regretting not having migrated. Their children curse them for having stayed on. The State Government must provide for them.”2

The reaction of Muslim separatists in Kashmir to the idea of Pandits’ return has ranged from ambivalence to outright hostility. Though some of them have refused to take a clear-cut stand, others have, on occasions, expressed their view on the issue openly. In an interview given to Murtaza Saibili, a correspondent of Surya magazine (June 1993 issue), most separatist leaders, ranging from Syed Ali Shah Geelani on the one extreme to Miyan Abdul Qayoom, President of Kashmir Bar Association, on the other, accepted the possibility of the return of Kashmiri Pandits only on the pre-condition that Pandits will have to participate in the ongoing struggle in favour of Islamic Liberation.

The militant organisations have openly opposed the return of Pandits to the ‘Islamic Kashmir’. Nearly 17 years after the above interviews were conducted; their stand has shown little softening-up. In a recent television debate on ‘Return of Kashmiri Pandits’, Sajjad Lone, Chairman of People’s Conference, an important part of All Party Hurriyat Conference, and a well-known separatist leader said,“Some Kashmiri Pandits are overqualified to return.” It is clear from his statement that all Pandit refugees are not welcome back. A few years back, when PDP was ruling the state, its top leader, Mehbooba Mufti had also stated that only those Pandits, who lived in refugee camps, were the government’s responsibility. It is clear from the above statements that since all the property and lands left behind by Pandits in Kashmir had been usurped by Muslims, bulk of Pandits, therefore, were not welcome back to the Valley, to claim the same. Such a hostile attitude of important Kashmiri leaders towards the return of Pandits, sends a negative message to the frightened community.

The fact is that various stakeholders in the ongoing insurgency have their own reasons to oppose Pandits’ return to Kashmir. The armed militants oppose it on ideological grounds; the separatists for political reasons; the general masses oppose it for purely economic reasons. Muslim masses in Kashmir have benefited enormously from the Pandit exodus. They have monopolised all the jobs, appropriated all businesses, occupied abandoned properties, either forcibly or by purchasing these at throwaway prices in distress sale, etc. Thousands of government jobs have gone to the local Muslims as no Pandit has been recruited to fill in the vacancy created by the retirement of their co-religionists. The Muslim educated class has seen the clear advantage that Pandits’ exodus and their continued displacement out of the Valley, gave them. They have naturally developed a stake in preserving the status-quo.

Thousands of government jobs have gone to the local Muslims as no Pandit has been recruited to fill in the vacancy created by the retirement of their co-religionists. The Muslim educated class has seen the clear advantage of Pandits’ exodus…

Muslim middle class will, therefore, consider it a threat to their economic interests, if the Pandits were to return. In the face of such stiff opposition to Pandit’s return, mainstream political parties have been cold to the proposal. Besides, Kashmiri Pandits’s return has occupied only the margins of political debate in the country. Except the Bharatiya Janata Party (when out of power) no one has sincerely taken up the cause of this beleaguered community. The plight of Kashmiri Pandits has got masked by the ‘secular versus communal’ debate, often witnessed in the Indian polity. Being too few in number, Pandits themselves do not represent a monolithic vote-bank and therefore, are not taken seriously by any political party.

In the final analysis, a microscopic minority like Kashmiri Pandits can live safely and with dignity only if respondent Muslim majority so desires, and to this end, is able to convince its radical fringe. This will largely depend upon the degree to which majority community is willing to accommodate the political and economic aspirations of this microscopic community. As of today, it does not appear to be in any mood to do so. This is evident from the reaction to the last Assembly elections to the State Legislature held after the Congress-PDP coalition government had to resign, as a consequence of the Amarnath land row. When reminded by a senior journalist about the overwhelming response of Kashmiris to the elections, Syed Ali Shah Geelani said tersely, “Kufr has won and Islam has lost.”

Similarly, even at the common man’s level, some incidents, like the one that took place at Chhatabal, do not inspire confidence. While collecting evidence of the dilapidated state of temples of the Valley, Sanjay Tickoo, President of Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), and his colleagues just about managed to escape with their lives, when local youth attacked them for daring to record the evidence. Describing the incident, Tickoo said, “It was 386th temple which we wanted to document through pictures for restoring it. But five-six members from the majority community came and threatened us,” Tickoo told the Hindustan Times. Tickoo is further reported to have said, “these men used words like “Jis tarah humne tumhare mandiroon ko jalaya hai vaise hi tum logon ko jalayenge, aur kisi ko pata bi nahi chalega (The way we have burnt your temples, in the same way we will burn you and no one will know about you). Yehan sirf Islam Chalega(Only Islam will prevail here). India ko lagta hai ki tum logon ko vapas layega, jo bi aayega mara jayega, hum log phir se gun uthayenge (India thinks they can bring Kashmiri Pandits back to Valley. Whosoever will come, will die. We will again take up arms against you).” Tickoo said the locals manhandled the members of the KPSS. “We had to leave the place. The villagers who had gathered at the spot did not intervene. This shows that the attitude towards the minority community has not changed.”3&4

…most of the people do not consider Kashmir to be a territorial dispute, but a Hindu-Muslim issue, in which their sympathies are with Muslims of Kashmir in ‘their struggle for separation from India and accession to Pakistan’. Kashmiri Pandits’ return is, therefore, also linked to the end of Islamist violence.

Many Pandits think that their return to Kashmir can only be a part of an overall and comprehensive settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir problem, wherein all parties to the dispute will have to guarantee their safety, security and dignity. Today, the situation is such that return is not even talked about by the Pandits because of both internal and external factors, which have firmly sucked the Valley into the vortex of Islamic terrorism. Activities of Pakistan-created and sponsored terror groups is not just confined to the Valley, but have also spread to many other parts of the country. Despite West’s consensus on war on terror and the pooling of resources by many countries to end this scourge, there is no end in sight to this menace. In fact, Pakistan itself has now fallen prey to this endless and senseless violence at the hands of radical elements, which it created in first place. Large parts of Pakistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Waziristan, etc., are today completely under the sway of various Islamic terror groups. Kashmir will, therefore, continue to simmer, despite the fact that India-Pakistan composite dialogue has been on and off and on again, for some years now.

In the meanwhile, Pakistani society too has got extremely radicalised. This is evident from people eulogising the assassin of Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab and a top politician of Pakistan People’s Party, who had supported the amending of the draconian anti-blasphemy law. Sometime later, killing of the only Christian Minister in the Federal Cabinet, Shahzad Bhatti, for the same reason, further confirmed this trend. At the popular level in Pakistan, there is extensive support for waging of Jehad in Kashmir, if not in the whole of India. According to a poll conducted by a Pakistan News Magazine, Herald, in January 2002, 64 per cent supported it. Besides, most of the people do not consider Kashmir to be a territorial dispute, but a Hindu-Muslim issue, in which their sympathies are with Muslims of Kashmir in ‘their struggle for separation from India and accession to Pakistan’. Kashmiri Pandits’ return is, therefore, also linked to the end of Islamist violence.

India’s challenge lies in its need to maintain and defend democratic pluralism, the bedrock of its much acclaimed liberal and secular constitution. Kashmir is central to this concept. India feels that armed insurgency in Kashmir is sponsored from Pakistan and it has helped the separatist movement primarily because of the Muslim- majority character of the state. The present government at the Centre in India feels Kashmiri Muslims have themselves fallen victims to this violence and if somehow this sponsorship of violence and terror were to stop, Kashmir could once again return to the peaceful ways of the old, wherein the problem could then be resolved with a heavy dose of autonomy/self-rule. This view, though simplistic, does have some merit. Composite dialogue between India and Pakistan seems to be revolving around this thinking (presently suspended due to terror strike on Mumbai by Pakistan based LeT on November 26, 2008).

According to the Pandits, they fled the Valley because of an overwhelming sense of insecurity that engulfed the community in 1989–90, as a result of the Pakistan sponsored insurgency in Kashmir. Therefore, they can return only if in their opinion, the place becomes safe enough for them to return. This will be possible only when threat of Pakistan’s intervention disappears completely and peace returns. There appears to be no possibility of that happening any time soon. Pakistan is unlikely to back off its chosen path to grab Kashmir by infiltrating its well-armed and well-trained Jehadis into Kashmir.

As long as Pakistan uses terrorism in Kashmir as a state policy and retains the ability to exercise that option; Kashmir will remain unsafe for Pandits to return.

“Since 1990, Indian army has recovered over 80,000 AK series rifles; over 1,300 machine guns; over 2,000 rocket launchers; some 63,000 hand grenades and seven million rounds of ammunition. The Indian Army has also eliminated over 20,000 terrorists, a large proportion of whom were foreign terrorists.” Despite paying such huge costs, the entire Pakistani terror infrastructure is intact and thriving. There are some 2,000 to 2,500 terrorists in training camps. Some 700–850 are on the launching pads and holding camps near the LoC. Around 230 terrorists made 35 attempts to infiltrate this year (2011). Nearly 50 terrorists have been killed in 2011 so far, 19 in the last two months alone.”5 Under the circumstances, generally peaceful situation prevailing in Kashmir in 2011 cannot be termed as return of normalcy on permanent basis. As long as Pakistan uses terrorism in Kashmir as a state policy and retains the ability to exercise that option; Kashmir will remain unsafe for Pandits to return.

One of the biggest confidence building measures among the Pandits would be if the majority community in the Valley assures them of their security and dignity. This can happen only if there is a change of heart on the part of majority community in Kashmir, which will enable them to overlook their own economic costs that Pandits’ return will impose on them. For a microscopic minority to build enough confidence in the overwhelming Muslim majority of Kashmir, the willingness of the latter to welcome them back is a necessary prerequisite. At the moment, this possibility does not seem to exist. Under the circumstances, no amount of coercion, use of force, offering of incentives, etc., will persuade the Pandits to return to the Valley, only to be thrown out again. That would be catastrophic. On the other hand, if the government insists on a partial return without giving much thought to the underlying problem, it is likely to prove disastrous and counter-productive. Intricacies of similar situation have been aptly summed up by Erind D Mooney, special advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on Internally Displaced, who also has a long experience of working in the office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. He states, “Simply providing aid to persons whose physical security is under threat not only neglects their protection needs but can actually exacerbate and perpetuate their plight, for instance by providing a false sense of security, shoring up repressive regimes, fostering long time dependency and even resulting in well- fed dead.”6

Some years back one could safely assume that return of peace to the Valley depended largely on the improvement in Indo-Pak relations. But now, the situation in Afghanistan after the contemplated US withdrawal from there is also likely to impact the events in Kashmir. The whole region is geographically interlinked and historically interwoven. The seamless movement and operations carried out by Jehadis in the Af–pak areas are likely to increase, if the International Security Assistance Forces operating in Afghanistan were to leave lock stock and barrel. With the epicentre and command structure of these forces operating from Pakistan under the latter’s overall supervision; the Jehadi activities are unlikely to leave Kashmir untouched. It is, therefore, unlikely that peace will return to Kashmir any time soon. Under the circumstances, hoping for the return of conditions conducive enough for Pandits to return, do not look bright.

…the exodus has brought about some critical changes among the Kashmiri Pandits, both at the individual as also at the community level. These changes militate against their desire to return to Kashmir.

It is also debatable whether the youth of the diaspora will be willing to return to the Valley on permanent basis for reasons which are varied and complicated. For one, Kashmir does not provide any employment opportunities in either industry or service sector, as no industries exist there and there is negligible growth in the service sector, because of two decades of militancy. The inability of these two crucial sectors to absorb a substantial number of youth in new jobs has even forced the local youth to seek jobs outside the State. As government continues to be the main employer, beyond a point, it cannot provide jobs to everyone. The traditional employment generating industries like horticulture and handicraft suffered enormously due to militancy and has, therefore, not kept pace with the requirements of the liberalised economy or the requirements of the burgeoning number of job seekers. Similarly, schooling of young children too, poses serious problems. Having grown up in a free environment outside Kashmir, where religion has practically no place in their school curriculum, it will be almost unthinkable for these children to study in Valley schools, where every child is required to wear religion on his or her sleeve and where their soaring spirits get easily stifled.

Under the circumstances, the only ones who might think of returning, on experimental basis, would be small-time shopkeepers and those entirely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. These displaced Pandits would be the only ones willing to return to Kashmir with even a lesser degree of security and political empowerment. Being poor and from rural background, getting back their land would provide them with their only source of livelihood. Though even in their case, a relatively small incident of violence against them can trigger panic and have devastating consequences.

In a survey conducted among displaced Pandits in 2005, to assess the pre-conditions of their return to Kashmir; security emerged as the overriding consideration, followed by their desire to have a secure area in the Valley, to settle in, preferably enjoying Union Territory status.

For Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits, a lot has changed during the last two decades. On the one hand, with fatigue setting-in among the people of Kashmir due to the two decade-old turmoil, some people in Kashmir do yearn for the olden days, when peace prevailed and Kashmiri Pandits’ presence among them was taken for granted. Recently (end of 2011) 25 Sarpanchs (the elected heads of the local village councils) met to discuss the return of Kashmiri Pandits to Kashmir. It was for the first time after the exodus that the elected representatives of the people in Kashmir discussed the issue. By any reckoning, it represents a positive change among the local population. However, at the same time, the exodus has brought about some critical changes among the Kashmiri Pandits, both at the individual as also at the community level. These changes militate against their desire to return to Kashmir.

Some years ago, an elderly Kashmiri Pandit refugee’s last wish, made from his death-bed in Udhampur, was to go back to Kashmir. His family took him to Kud, not far from Udhampur, which looked like Kashmir. That was the kind of burning desire of that generation, which strongly connected to Kashmir. However, this is not true of Kashmiri Pandit youth who grew up outside Kashmir. They neither connect nor identify themselves with Kashmir in the same way as their elders did. Besides, Pandits of the older generation were predominantly state government employees and their world revolved around Kashmir. The new generation largely works in private enterprises within and outside India, turning them into global citizens. The Valley’s economy provides no avenues for gainful employment of such youth, equipped as they are with the skills that are not in demand in Kashmir. Additionally, Kashmiri Pandit youth aspires for better career opportunities, which Kashmir cannot provide.

Widespread and rampant inter-community marriages amongst Kashmiri Pandits, have also ensured that the community is losing its distinct identity rapidly. High mortality and low birth rate has further accentuated the process of extinction of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Under such circumstances, even if ideal conditions were created for the return of Kashmiri Pandits to Kashmir, there may not be anyone willing or even left to go back there.

Nevertheless, acceptance by India, of the forced displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley as a fait accompli, will amount to granting official recognition to the Islamists’ success in turning Kashmir into an entirely Islamic state. In its own estimation, and in the eyes of the world, such recognition by India will make its credentials, as a democratic and secular country, ring extremely hollow: its much hyped cooperative federalism will lie in tatters. Despite pushing the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits under the carpet; history will be unrelenting in judging India’s claim to being a liberal democracy. Can India accept this kind of situation without paying a heavy price in terms of its standing in the world, particularly at a time when it is emerging as a big economic power house and a regional power?

Notes

1. Dr Ajay Chrangoo, Koshur Samachar; November 2009, p. 21.

2. Tribune News Service, n. 2.

3. Hindustantimes.com, date-lined November 17, 2009.

4. News carried by local newspaper in Kashmir: Downloaded from KP Network@yahoogroups.com: April 1, 2009.

5. Maj Gen GD Bakshi, (Retd), The Times of India, November 18, 2011.

6.Dr Ajay Chrangoo, President, Panun Kashmir, Koshur Samachar, January 2010, p. 16.

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