Col Tej K Tikoo
In our 35 years of trials and tribulations, the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community has seen little transformation in the environment that resulted in our exodus. Whatever transformation we see has mostly been of frills, not of substance.Looking back at our exodus from a historical perspective, one can safely say that our community failed to interpret the meaning and significance of important historical developments that shaped the subcontinent in general and Kashmir in particular in early thirties. In hindsight, one can say that with every passing day since 1930, a Kashmiri Pandit’s continued presence in Kashmir, its ancient land, was becoming increasingly untenable.
A Kashmiri Pandits’ ethnic cleansing from Kashmir has been the result of Islamic majoritarianassertion, mostly (but not always) executed violently. Other methods employed, depending on the situation, achieved the same objective; permanent displacement from Kashmir, that turned us into dispossessed and refugees in our own country. After the end of Afghan rule in 1819, many generations of our community had overcome the trauma of brutal violence that we faced then. However, in the early thirties, the ghost of falling a victim to Islamic terror once again returned to haunt us.
The events orchestrated by powers that shaped the history and geography of the subcontinent then, and which continues to reshape it even now (and will continue to do soin the not-so-distant future), had invariably one fall-out: our displacement. We, as a community, became an expendable commodity for those who shaped these events, be it in Kashmir, New Delhi orLondon and later in Karachi, Rawalpindi or Islamabad.
We would be overlooking a stark truth if we did not accept that as a community, we failed to interpret the significance of these events that literally sealed our fate. Even though the power equations after the end of WWII changed, Kashmir continued to be treated as a cake, a piece of which everyone wanted to have. In that cake we were an indigestibleintrusion which needed to be cast aside.
Let us go over some important milestones that shaped the politics in the last half century of British rule in India. The most significant development was the rise of Muslim communalism. Much against the conventional narrativethat holds some later-day Muslim intelligentsia as being the catalysts and the engine of this rise and spread of communal politics, it was, actually, the then Principal of the Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh, Mr Beck, who organized The Mohammedan Defence Association in 1893, with the sole objective of preventing Muslims from joining the Indian National Congress, thus playing a significant role in distancing Muslims from Hindus.It was his enunciation of the two-nation theory that converted Sir Syed Ahmad Khan from a nationalist into a staunch Muslim communalist. Creation of Muslim League on Dec 31, 1906, soon after the partition of Bengal into Hindu and Muslim provinces, advocacy of separate electorates and homeland for Muslims by Choudhary Rehmat Ali, the bright young Indian Muslim student at Cambridge, in 1932-33, further helped this Muslim consolidation. Allama Iqbal later endorsed this demand. Muslim League, thereafter, embraced this concept anddemanded the implementation of Minto-Morley reforms which had recommended separate electorate for both communities. Consequentially, the rise of Muslim communalism in the subcontinent did not leave Kashmir untouched, though here, the earliest seeds of Muslim communalism had been sown by Ahrar Party, formed exclusively of radical Muslims of Punjab. This had created bitterness between Hindus and Muslims, particularly in Jammu.However, the turning point in Kashmir was reached in July1931.
The interests of British Crown, which exercised theparamount powers overJammu and Kashmir always perceived a threat to their Indian empire from Russia, whose Czar had been expanding its territory relentlessly and, in some ways, eyed the Indian subcontinent too. After the WWII, Stalin, after his forceful victory over Germany, had already started extending his influence in the countries in eastern Europe. On its southern border lay the bigger prize, the region of Persian Gulf, with its oil wells, which Sir Olaf Carew, the Secretary of the foreign affairs of British India, called the ‘wells of power’. It was due to this feverish strategic contest that Britain demanded to physically occupy the northern most outpost of their empire, the Gilgit Agency.
India, as a jewel in the British Crown, had played an unparalleled role in the Allies’ eventual victory over the Axis powers.By the end of the WWII, the British had realized India’s geostrategic importance as an invaluable military base from where it could dominate the Indian ocean and the countries around the Persian Gulf. Indian subcontinent also provided the Imperial Army an inexhaustible source of quality manpower. These geopolitical factors deeply influenced the British plans for the future of the subcontinent as Britain was winding up its empire in India. The Congress leadership, however, remained oblivious to the British manipulations aimed at protecting its geopolitical interests by partitioning India and carving out Pakistan. For the Congress the demand for Pakistan was purely a result of Muslim League’s communal politics. In the British scheme of things, no other state under their paramountcy was as crucial to protecting their interests as the State of Jammu and Kashmir. During Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule, the British demand to get a foothold in Gilgit, therefore, became even more intense. Maharaja Hari Singh refused to succumb to such pressure. To add insult to injury, the Maharaja had taken a patriotic stand at the first Round Table Conference in London (Nov 12, 1930 to Jan 15, 1931).
It was in the backdrop of these developments that the events of July 13, 1931, took place. In many ways the events of this fateful day proved to be a watershed in the recent history of Kashmir. First, it pitchforked Sheikh Abdullah to the forefront of anti-Dogra protest at a crucial point in Kashmir’s history, turning him gradually into a rallying point of a mass movement of sorts. Second, the British got a golden opportunity to use the events to weaken the Dogra Maharaja to such an extent that he felt compelled to hand over Gilgit agency to the British on a long-term lease, with disastrous consequences for India later in 1947. Third, Sheikh Abdullah succeeded in projecting a purely communal movement as a revolt by the oppressed against the feudal Maharaja. This appealed to the stalwarts of the Freedom Movement in India who, thereafter, supported Sheikh Abdullah politically, overlooking his essentially communal agenda. Lastly, Kashmiri Pandits and other non-Muslims who bore the brunt of the Muslim fury that broke out after the happenings at the Central Jail on July 13, 1931, were left high and dry, something that became a norm, eventually leading to their ethnic cleansing in 1989-90. Therefore, when KP community members were assassinated in 1989-90, their death sentences had been issued then, though these were carried out nearly 60 years later.
Later, developments in Kashmir as a result of the partition of India and Pakistani invasion of October 22, 1947, State’s accession to India, proceedings at United Nations, declaration of ceasefire (that left 86000 sq Km of the State’s territory with Pakistan),was essentially manipulated by Britain to protect its own interests in this part of the world. It was, however, the Kashmiri Pandits who paid the price for the unfolding events.
In-between this long period from 1931 to 1989, many events took place which marginalized our communitygradually, forcing them to seek a safe and better future outside the state. Prior to their latest exodus in 1989-1990, Kashmiri Pandits had been forced out from Kashmirduring theAfghan rule (1753-1819). However, thereafter, during the Sikh rule (1819-1846), and then during major portion of the Dogra rule (1846-1947), they enjoyed some respite. In the twentieth century, the old story repeated itselfwhen on July 13, 1931, as mentioned above.
Feeling threatened, neglected and vulnerable, nearly 30,000 to 40,000 families are said to have moved out to othercities of India between 1931-41.Official census figures for 1941 say that Kashmiri Pandits formed 15 per cent of the population of Kashmir, as against 83 percent Muslims. However, these figures were wide off the mark. Actual population of Kashmiri Pandits in 1941, must have been close to25-30 per cent of the total population. Indeed, the census of 1941was the first statistical assault on the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley; an ingenious ploy among other methods, used to reduce Kashmiri Pandits to non-entities.
After the break-up of Muslim Conference into two factions, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah headed the faction which he named the National Conference. He developed close relationship with Indian National Congress, particularly with its leading light, Jawahar Lal Nehru. As the supremo of National Conference, Sheikh Abdullah denounced the sectarian politics of Jinnah and wowed to follow secular policies. Many Kashmiri Pandits felt relieved that their future could now be safe in secular Kashmir. To add to their new-found optimism, Pandit Nehru and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan attended the Annual session of the National Conference in Sopore held between August 2-5, 1945. Here, Nehru made an appeal to the audience to rally around Sheikh Abdullah and his National Conference, which was an answer to their ills. He particularly asked Kashmiri Pandits to ‘leave Kashmir if they did not join the National Conference. If Pandits could not join it, no safeguards would protect them.’ Following Nehru’s advice, Pandits, including many of their leading lights, joined the NC in large numbers. They hadhoped that the party would become a symbol of secularism and nationalism in newly independent India. But that was not to be. It is estimated that during the four decades between 1948 and 1988 about 200,000Kashmiri Hindus migrated to other parts of the country.
The false figuresquoted by the Government stood exposed in 1989-90, when the number of Kashmiri Pandits who fled the valley wasplaced at over 450,000. Nearly 300,000 of them were housed inrefugee camps in Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere; 100,000 found placewith relatives in various places in India and abroad; around 50,000 were still leftin the valley before the end of 1990. Thereafter, the 1991 census put the Pandits at 0.1 per cent of the population, which would translateto barely 3,000 people.
An indication of the coming events was available from whathappened in 1986, when the state Chief Minister, Ghulam MohammadShah, aka, Gul Shah, decided to construct a mosque named ShahMasjid, inside the new civil secretariat, within premises of an ancienttemple in Jammu. People of Jammu resented this communally drivenmove and came out on the streets in protest. Gul Shah retaliated; but only after reaching the Valley. In February 1986, he instigated the Muslims by raising the slogan of Islam Khatre Mein Hey (Islam isin danger). This provocative slogan, coming from the Chief Ministerhimself, was enough to instigate the Muslims, who turned their angeragainst the hapless Kashmiri Pandits. The worst hit areas were mainly in South Kashmir and also in Sopore, namely Vanpoh, Lukbhavan, Anantnag, Salar and Fatehpur, etc. Therampaging Muslim mobs plundered and destroyed 300Pandit houses and two temples, besides looting many shops, setting their business establishmentson fire, and desecrating many religious sites. However, to hide the reality of what had happened, the State Government used a massive cover-up. Though President’s rule was imposed in the state after the Congress Party withdrew support from the State Government, yet no action, whatsoever, was taken against those responsible for destruction of life and property of Kashmiri Pandits.
The central and State Governments’tepid response to what the hapless Pandits suffered further emboldened the radical Islamists in Kashmir.It will not be wrong to say that Central Government’s weak response encouraged the radical Islamists to embark on an outright armed uprising inspired by the concept of Jihad, three years later.
However, the complacent Pandits of Kashmir missed this marker too and failed to interpret its significance as a stern warning to their very survival in Kashmir.
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