Craving KPs

Pran Pandit
Is the centuries-old cultural heritage of Kashmiris going to get lost in the pages of history; have the KPs to fight the battle of return and resettlement in their home-land till they perish; do the KPs have a common interest, which would encounter all obstacles; and will they rise up to fight the vested interests who betrayed and led them to vicissitudes? With these and many more questions lurking in my mind and searching for reply, I went to my bed. As dreams are neither planned nor ordered, I dreamt and travelled a distance of hundreds of miles in few seconds. Vow! After travelling a hazardous journey on foot with a caravan of thousands of KP pilgrims, I was on the peak of “Sharda Hill”, across the Krishan Ganga River in POJK. A bald, bearded and empty eyed person in the dress of a SANYASI, holding a bronze Trident in his had, appeared on the scene and made everybody to sit in the vast lawns of “SHARDA- PEETH”. A pilgrim said to me in whisper, “Is he Muni Shandilya?” Although I did not know who he was yet without replying to his query, I felt delighted because I thought that I was fortunate enough to have a glimpse of a great sage- Vipra Shandilya, whose name I had read in the English transliteration of SHARDA MAHATMAYAM. He addressed the gathering and what he said was: “perhaps you have forgotten your ancestry and lineage; you have deviated from the VEDIC, SHAIVA and SHAKTI traditions of ancient Kashmir and blindly reached out to western values and ways; all of you are the progeny of those who stood for LOK-HIT KRIYA and PAR-HIT KRIYA, so, instead of choosing self-serving paths, you must do good to your fellow men and the entire mankind”. In another breath, he posed a volley of questions to the men in attendance, which included: “Where will you go from now; why don’t you unite for the common cause; and why don’t you determine your goals and speak in one voice?” In yet another breath, he gave some tips, which included: “you have to get out of the frozen state; find out what exactly you clamor for so that you can work in the direction of fulfilling your authentic passion; remember that through double speak and hypocrisy, one deceives no body but his own self; I want you to be truthful and revolutionary but not rebels; and I ask you to fulfill your responsibility for the welfare of the society and your future progeny”. And, when I woke up, I found myself lying in the bed, hundreds of miles away from that spot and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was a dream!
The hangover of the dream was so intense that I left my bed about an hour before the dawn and started watering the flower plants in the small lawns of my house. I think that my mind is fully occupied by the very thought of my home-land and the plight of all those who have been eagerly waiting for early return to their home-land and live there peacefully. My sentiments about Kashmir are nostalgic and tender; and I pride my self on my Kashmir origin. I am out of my home-land for the last more than 27 years now and I feel robbed of some most precious thing of my life; and never-ending spiral of violence in my home-land makes my heart to bleed. Possibly, my visit to my home-land- a land of fulfilling dreams, in dream, is the reason for what I dreamt!
I am aware that much water has flown down the River Jhelum since KPs left the valley; I am abreast of the events and developments of my home-land; I am agonized to have gathered that, in an atmosphere of violence, Kashmiriyat was badly mutilated; but, at the same time, I have not lost sight of the fact that since the advent of Islam in Kashmir, two religious communities have been sharing a common social, cultural, psychological and intellectual orientation for centuries; and I remember the words of the father of nation, M.K.Gandhi, who, after the eruption of communal violence in the entire Indian sub continent, in the year 1947, said, “If at all I see a ray of light from the gathering darkness, it is from Kashmir.” I do see that ray of light in Kashmir even after 70 years and am grounded in firm belief that majority of Kashmir Muslims want KPs to return to valley and live there as rightful citizens; and it is quite absurd to think that all Kashmiri Muslims are against the return of Pandits to home-land.
I am yearning to return to my home-land with honor and dignity and contribute in preserving the scientific, humanist, secular philosophy and the social fabric of Kashmir, which I owe to my home-land.
For quite some time past, hype has been created by some vested interests that KPs are not interested in returning to their home-land, which is quite humbug and ridiculous. The exiled KP community members want to return and they long to return to their home-land at an earliest and live there with honor and dignity. True, that a fraction of the younger generations of KPs, who were born just before or immediately after the exodus, feels that it is absurd to hunt for something what one has already got in his hand. There are many a reasons for that. One, they are fed-up by the delay caused in resettlement of KPs in the valley; two, because they don’t have the feel of their roots and have remained unattached with their home-land for decades; three, they were nourished, grown up and empowered to prepare for their careers in cosmopolitan and pluralistic milieu; four, they look at new set of goals including greater income, choice of job and style of living etc, what they reckon as the requisites to enjoy a good life; and, five,  they don’t find bright career prospects in the valley. They constitute a small fraction of Pandits like the one of Kashmiri Muslims, who, during the vitiated atmosphere in valley, got scattered across the globe in pursuit of better career opportunities and handsome earnings without forfeiting their birth right to live in the valley.
What haunts lakhs of KPs like a nightmare is that 27 years have already elapsed and despite traversing a long distance through the dark tunnel, they did not sight the light. 27 years is by no means a small time; KPs have seen plethora of governments come and go in the state and Centre and every time the politician made half-hearted and token attempts in the direction of their return and rehabilitation; Pandits waited and waited while the political parties remained busy in using the situation to further their political agenda; and exiled Pandits still wait a measure of justice.
In the face of an atmosphere of opposing and collision of adverse opinions and resistance from various quarters, the issue of their return and rehabilitation has been further complicated. Some of the so-called stake holders and other players, who are unnecessarily creating hurdles and becoming an impediment in the way of return and rehabilitation of KPs, are drugged on blindly by vested interests and factors other than the reason. All Party Hurriyat Conference groups have already made their stand clear on the issue of the resettlement of KPs in valley and have reiterated that KPs should resettle at their respective original places. In one of the recent public meetings in valley,  leaders of one of the national political parties (INC)  expressed themselves strongly against the mode and manner formulated by the government regarding  return and rehabilitation of Pandits ;  the leaders of  oldest regional political party of the state (NC) that has been founded by Late Sher-e-Kashmir,  known as savoir of KPs in 1947, who longed for and would see no alternative to secularism as the future of the state, did waste no time in disapproving the governments plan; and another regional party of the state (PDP) has entered into alliance with BJP and  return and rehabilitation of Pandits figures in the agenda of alliance of two parties. Late Mufti Mohammad Syed, C.M, J&K, was committed to facilitate dignified return of Pandits to their home-land and there is no reason to disbelieve Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, C. M of J&K that she is treading on the foot steps of her late father and carrying forward his unfinished tasks. She made a statement on the floor of the state Assembly that she will fulfill the vision of his late father to facilitate the return and rehabilitations of KPs in Kashmir valley and would step down if she failed. Only time will decide if she can make it but Pandits hope that she does.
Pandits understand the dynamics of the complex problem well and can see the writing on the wall that the road is slippery and zigzag. With Shri Narinder Modi, as P.M of the country and the coalition government in the state, led by Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, Pandits recognize that this is a god-sent golden opportunity for KPs to reclaim their roots and to live in their home-land with honor and dignity. KPs will be quite disheartened if they miss this opportunity but they shall not give up the hope.  They are resilient enough to struggle for justice till end; the whole world knows that they have succeeded in preserving the community’s unique identity and culture in the most challenging circumstances; they are full of zeal to do whatever they believe is for the good of the entire community, their progeny and, above all, the country. They will never allow themselves to part with it, whether under the influence of pain or pleasure, desire or fear.
(The author is a former Superintendent of Police, J&k)
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