A highly literate community, they were disproportionately represented in the Kashmir bureaucracy as well as in the teaching, legal, and medical professions, prompting resentment among other communities in the Valley, especially Muslims, who comprise over 95 percent of the population. [58] and the Anantnag district, where they were 7.84 percent of the population. Anantnag, the constituency of then Congress leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, bore the brunt of the violence. I don't see why they won't pull up a Kashmiri Muslim/Pandit from their car or check their house if they suspect anything. The lead up to the Kashmiri Hindu exodus In 1989, the then J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had ordered the release of around 70 terrorists between July Singh to appoint Jagmohan as the governor of the state. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) stepped up its activities, and the hanging of the militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984 added to the sense of foreboding. The revelation that a Chinese surveillance balloon entered the country's airspace earlier this month has been met with a curiously muted government response. They blame the then-Jammu and Kashmir governor, Jagmohan, for the Pandit exodus. [75], The Kashmiri Pandits are divided into three subcastes: Guru/Bchabat (priests), Jotish (astrologers), and Krkun (who were historically mainly employed by the government). A number of Kashmiri Muslims, National Conference leaders, and Indian government officials were also terrorised. With tensions peaking, hundreds of Pandit families began their journey out of the Valley. Lalitaditya's predecessor, Ranaditya, is said to have built the first sun temple. During the period of [46] As of 2016, a total of 1,800 Kashmiri Pandit youths have returned to the valley since the announcing of Rs. The rigged election of 1987 after which Abdullah formed the government was a turning point at which militants took the upper hand. Power, Crossroads [18], Zulju, who was probably a Mongol from Turkistan,[19] wreaked devastation in 1320, when he commanded a force that conquered many regions of the Kashmir Valley. [65] The Mata Kheerbhawani[66] temple shrine in Srinagar, considered one of the holiest Hindu shrines, saw the largest gathering of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley in 2012. Many followers of the traditional religions who did not convert to Islam instead migrated to other parts of India. More than 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits[ref], constituting 99% of the total population of Hindus living in Muslim majority area of the Kashmir Valley, were forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Muslim terrorists, trained in Pakistan, since the end of 1989 and forced to live the life of exiles in their own country, by unleashing a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot and arson. According to accounts published by many eminent Kashmiri Pandits, there were threatening slogans over loudspeakers from mosques, and on the streets. The Hindu minority in Muslim majority Kashmir shrank from an estimated 140,000 in the late 1980s to 19,865 by 1998. As many as 36,289 (till December 30, 2003) lives have been lost. [59], Scholar Christopher Snedden states that the Pandits made up about 6 per cent of the Kashmir Valley's population in 1947. However, Zulju was probably not a Muslim. The VP Singh-led Janata Dal government at the Centre re-appointed Jagmohan as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, triggering his political rival Farooq Abdullah's resignation from the post of chief minister. .. Advertisement .. Rajiv Gandhi Urged VP Singh Government To Stop Exodus Of Hindus From Kashmir: Congress, "Eknath Shinde Could Not Have Become Chief Minister If": Supreme Court, "If Manish Sisodia Joins BJP Today": Arvind Kejriwal Targets PM Modi, "Playing For Country": Gavaskar Blasts Gill For Calling Physio Mid-Over, In Telangana Death By Suicide, Student's Heart-Breaking Apology To Mother, Nithyananda's 'Republic Of Kailasa' At UN Meet. Advertisement. In Jammus Jagti migrant camp, where at least 20,000 migrant Kashmiri Pandits live, the residents have been protesting for the past 146 days. Other commentary has pointed to how the government organised transport for fleeing Pandits so that they could get to Jammu. [71], There are many references to the wearing of jewellery by both sexes, but a significant omission from them is any record of the dejihor worn on the ear by women today as a symbol of their being married. He asked Kashmiri Muslims to make Pandits feel more secure. These organisations are involved in rehabilitation of the community in the valley through peace negotiations, mobilisation of human rights groups and job creation for the Pandits. Sanjay Tickoo, a Kashmiri Pandit was barely 20-years-old in 1989-90, when he witnessed what came to be known as the "Kashmiri Pandit Exodus". Instead, the notorious governor said that if the Pandits decided to leave, refugee camps had been set up for them and the departing civil servants would be continued to be paid their salaries. What was the UN event representatives of Kailasa attended? The mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits began. Journalist-lawyer Prem Nath Bhat was shot dead in Anantnag on December 27. WebThe Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency.Of a total Pandit population of 120,000140,000 some 90,000100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave, and about 30 were killed. [56][57] They were distributed into the two districts of Valley, the Baramulla district, where Hindus constituted 2.1 percent of the population; 12,919 Hindus out of 612,428 total. Yet their return looks as difficult as it ever did. Many fell into disrepair. Many Pandits celebrated the Indian government move as they believe it will pave the way for their return to the Valley. WebGet latest News Information, Articles on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard Updated on July 26, 2022 14:19 with exclusive Pictures, photos & videos on Kashmiri Pandit Atm Guard at Latestly.com - Page 2 The Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah In agreement with the Central government accepted their demands and freed the jailed terrorists. In response, Abdullah resigned on the same day and Jagmohan suggested the dissolution of the State Assembly. Enjoy an ad lite experience on TOI+. [15], A historically contested region, Northern India was subject to attack from Turkic and Arab regimes from the eighth century onwards, but they generally ignored the mountain-circled Kashmir Valley in favour of easier pickings elsewhere. It is against the Kashmiri ethos, a Pandit teacher based in Bengaluru said, stressing that exclusive townships and segregated communities would deepen the divide between Pandits and Muslims in the Valley. Around 9 PM, loud and thunderous Islamic and pro-Pakistan slogans raised collectively by a multitude of humanity and relayed through powerful loudspeakers almost pierced ear drums. Those Pandits in service who felt threatened were free to leave their stations; they would continue to be paid salary. Asia, Pacific An estimated 100,000 Kashmiri Pandits have reportedly fled the Valley. Twenty of Pakistans poorest districts have been chosen for implementation of the Ministry of Plannings development plan for 2022-2027. Jammu and Kashmir being the only Muslim majority state in whole of India, the protection of minorities and their living peacefully, in their homeland, is crucial for India to remain as a Secular Democratic State. A Kashmiri Pandit fact-checks The Kashmir Files In an EXCLUSIVE interview to SabrangIndia's Karuna John, KPSS Chief Sanjay Tickoo recalls events as they truly unfolded and not as they have been depicted in the movie 22 Mar 2022 Some 800 families have remained in Dont miss from Explained | How Rohingya issue reached ICJ, what its ruling means for Myanmar, Changing equations in region help Pakistan get relief at FATF meet, Nirupama SubramanianNirupama Subramanian is National Editor (Strategic Affairs). Major media outlets have that the kidnapping was a fake one as the kidnapping took place just after 5 days Sayeed took the office. He announced that if they chose to stay back, he would not be able to guarantee their safety. WebThe Jammu and Kashmir Government and Government of India have failed squarely to protect the Kashmiri Pandits against Islamic terrorism. "At that time, Rath Yatra of Lal Krishna Advani ji began and (Narendra) Modi ji, our (current) Prime Minister, became event manger of this yatra," he charged. [10], According to Indian government, more than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri migrants including some Sikh and Muslim families. Log in to edit articles at Historical India. Kashmiri Pandits or Kashmiri Brahmins are Hindus. In this exclusive interview, he recalls the events as they truly unfolded and not how they have been over dramatised and presented in the film The Kashmir Files which, he fears, aims The Pandits insist that they will return to the Valley only when they are able to determine that the situation is conducive to their safety. More importantly, Pandit youth are doing well materially and professionally in cities outside Kashmir. The 19th of January, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. Kashmir was in ferment. Amid great power competition, life in the China-Russia borderlands reveals the paradoxes underpinning the Beijing-Moscow friendship. JKLF targeted a Kashmiri Hindu for the first time on 14 September 1989, when they killed Tika Lal Taploo, a lawyer and a prominent leader of Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir, in front of several eyewitnesses. The killings of innocent natives and ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri Pandits must be seen in the context of the deeper intent to secure the secession of Jammu and Kashmir. Neel Kanth Ganjoo, a retired judge who had sentenced Maqbool Bhat to death, was shot dead outside the J&K High Court in Srinagar on November 4. 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