The Black Day

Rubon Saproo
It’s never easy to leave home where your family has  lived for generations but when it is threat to life then there seems no better option than to run away for safety and security. The same misfortune and tragedy happened with the Kashmiri Pandits 27 years back when they had to abandon their loved homes overnight. The separatist movement to liberate Kashmir had started and with the result patriotic forces had been targeted. The state Government had virtually surrendered to fight against terrorism .The widespread increase in violence across valley caused great fear among minority Kashmiri Pandits.
The specific date of January 19th is remembered as the darkest day by Kashmiri Pandits in their history because of so many reasons and factors. The day reminds about the shadows of fear encountered by these people during the horrific night of January 19th, 1990, which seem never to end. This long night of winter was marred and surrounded by macabre happenings. There were freedom slogans and nightmare scenes all around. The Pandits feet strangers in their own land and those who once stood by them in any kind of circumstances disappeared into the darkness. This night is the most unforgettable night for the community. The night also proved to be the real cause behind exodus of Pandits.
Unfortunately, the crisis which community confronted after mass exodus  is very painful. People once being landlords of large property became overnight homeless and tenants. Majority of Pandit families were forced to live in camps in wretched conditions. At first they were living in tented accommodations set up in and around Jammu. These tents used to leak every time it rained. But there was no option. Many deaths took place in these tents because of snake bites, extreme humid climate, sun strokes and unhygienic conditions.
The next home for displaced people were concrete quarters like cells having roofs of cemented sheets which provided them a cover in all type of weather.  These quarters were once located in Jammu, Nagrota and Udhampur. The limited space for whole family in these camps has exposed the privacy and particularly that of women. A sheet of tarpaulin hanging between two hooks separate kitchen from rest of space within the room. These camps were so congested that one could not easily breathe or move in its narrow, stinky and serpentine lanes. With people living in such quarters have access to resources limited; they were often running their families hand to mouth. However, in recent times, government provided two room tenements to migrants at Jagti, Nagrota, Buta Nagar and Purkhoo under rehabilitation policy but the truth is that it also could not solve the basic problem of space as per family requirements.
The life in camps is not easy. It is very tough. Many families ended up in these camps. For every kind of assistance, the residents in these camps have to remain dependent on government or other agencies. Lacking in basic necessitates of life, these camps affected mental and physical health of large number of displaced people. The people in these camps reported higher rates of diabetes, blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases as compared with the general population. The scenario of other Kashmiri Pandits living outside camps or in diaspora is not different. They too have faced hardships and brunt of migration. Young men and women of the community are dying because of lack of medications and appropriate heath care. The chronic disease like cancer is rapidly growing among community and it is more alarming among young women.
Presently, the displaced community of Pandits is battling for survival. It is facing a slow and lingering death. There is a long road of sufferings and challenges ahead of it. On one side it is struggling to keep its identity alive where on the other side it is fastly losing its culture and tradition. There are two categories of people in the community- one born before migration and the other after. The new generation brought up during migration period is not ready to live in the state. They have their own arguments. They say that there are no job avenues for them and with the result they have no option but to move outside as soon as earlier. This is the worst kind of situation where elders in the community have to take decisions under compulsion. However, women of the community are the worst sufferers of this trauma.
Wounded and hurt, the community feels that it has no prospects in life yet it has not lost courage to fight against all odds.  It faces grave problems today, including lack of employment opportunities, pain of loneliness, discomfort and fear of what would happen ahead. Clothes and food does not mean help until the Government works out exactly what help does mean and how to solve the problem, lacs of people here face an uncertain future. Although I do not want to paint a sorry picture of my community but it is true that the community is on verge of extinction in case immediate steps are not taken to prevent it from such a disaster. It is now over 27 years that they have left Valley and yet they are waiting for their permanent rehabilitation.

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