A Slidecast on “The Abandoned” – Kashmiri Hindus in India
Some of you may remember a presentation on Article 370 and the The Plight of Kashmiri Hindus that I gave at the House of Commons last year (March ’11). Yesterday evening, I created a short slidecast (slides+audio) from the few slides that depicted the appalling and miserable conditions in the camps that house the Kashmiri Pandits – refugees in their own home..The audio was recorded from the far end of a large room so it is faint and may require you to turn your volume all the way up…Any feedback and comments gratefully accepted.
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Slidecast on "The Abandoned"
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“Every day we leave behind something of our identity,†the woman says. “Yesterday, it was the freedom to sing the national anthem, today it is the freedom to wear bindi, tomorrow it could be our faith.â€
She breaks into sobs.
Soon others around her are weeping too. They feel safer inside the camp; outside, the world has changed. It is no longer the Kashmir they once knew.
“When we became refugees in 1990, our lives got confined to eight feet by eight feet rooms. More than twenty years later, we are still stuckâ€
This is from “The Nowhere People” – a report on the brave Pandits who have dared to return back to Kashmir and their plight. A report on women who dare not venture out..a report on a township that has become a hell-hole..and a community that founds itself without help, succour or sympathy – and fast losing hope..Pl do read, share – and most importantly think what can be done..Btw, did Rahul Gandhi comment on the plight of the Pandits during his recent visit to J&K?
On When Nehru Threatened Wary Kashmiri Pandits to Join National Conference by Sunanda Vashisht, 5th Nov ’22:
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According to Dr Ramesh Taimiri, a well-known scholar who has spent decades studying modern Kashmir history, the British had stopped entertaining Abdullah after Gilgit was leased by Maharaja Hari Singh to them in 1935. Jinnah could not stand Abdullah because he never wanted a challenge to his leadership by another popular Muslim leader. Abdullah had no choice but to forge ‘friendship’ with Nehru.
Abdullah was shrewd enough to know that his dream of independent Sheikhdom would never see light of the day in Pakistan. He would get subsumed in larger Muslim politics of Muslim League. With Nehru, he saw hope of carving an independent Sheikhdom within India and the first step towards that was Article 370, which Nehru accepted. A state within a state, a sovereign with its own flag, Constitution and office of Prime Minister within sovereign state of India. It was a train-wreck waiting to happen.
Establishment historians have over time also weaved the canard that Maharaja Hari Singh delayed accession to Indian dominion because he was toying with the idea of independence. There is no historical evidence that suggests Maharaja ever entertained the idea of independence. He knew that option was not even on the table. Princely states had been given the option of either joining India or Pakistan. There was no other choice.
Maharaja had a channel of communication open with Sardar Patel. He even sent his emissary to Delhi on September 13 to indicate his decision. Maharaja, however, was very wary of Sheikh Abdullah. He did not want to leave his kingdom to Abdullah and he knew this is exactly what Nehru would do after he relinquished power.
The delay in signing the Instrument of Accession wasn’t over terms and conditions of accession but over rehabilitation of Abdullah. Nehru had made the entire accession to India somehow intertwined with Abdullah’s future. Like every other princely state, the decision to join India or Pakistan should have been left to the ruler of that state. It was only in Kashmir that Nehru made it about Abdullah and his ascension to power.
The delay in signing the Instrument of Accession had tragic consequences for Kashmir. Pakistan declared jihad in Kashmir as soon as it came into existence and under Operation Gulmarg, Pakistani tribal militia killed and maimed thousands before they were stopped by the Indian Army.
On August 7, 1945 Kashmiri Pandits faced rebuke from Nehru in the Sheetalnath Bhairav temple compound. Their only crime was that as victims of genocide, they were fearful of majoritarian Islamic rule returning to Kashmir without any safeguards for minorities. Nehru dismissed their fears with contempt.