Land of Kashyapa - Page #8 - The Kashmiri Hindu

The Kashmiri Hindu

The picture you see was once the home of a Kashmiri Hindu Pandit. It belonged to the family of Kauls. It now belongs to Farooq Ahmad Qasid and is called "Bait ul Meras" (the house of heritage) wherein runs an NGO. I saw several homes abandoned by the Kashmiri Pandits and usurped by the locals. It would have been the pain of their lives to watch their homes expropriated, leaving them stateless and homeless. The Kashmiri Pandit today is an orphan.

To know about the travails and plight of the Kashmiri Hindu, we need to understand the Eucalyptus tree as a metaphor for a faith that spread through force. I read this from an article by a Vice Chancellor of an Agricultural university - "The Eucalyptus trees don't share well with others. These trees quickly absorb nutrients and water from the soil, leaving other plants thirsty and malnourished...It degrades the soil wherever planted by sucking away available soil nutrients fast and by adding nothing substantial in return...The plant canopy is unfriendly to avian fauna. Nest building is not possible at smooth branch bases. Also, the tree is neither good for roosting nor as night shelter. It is therefore not good from an environmental point of view."

The Hindu Kings of Kashmir often welcomed craftsmen, traders, teachers, preachers of different faiths and this included people who were persecuted as well. In their benevolence, the devil laid his hands. Soon many were killed and Islamic rule established. "Royal patronage given to Islamic missionaries made Kashmir ripe for proselytizing."

In his book “Paradise Lost – Seven Exoduses of Kashmiri Pandits" - K.L.Bhan lists the seven exoduses of Hindus out of the Kashmir valley between the 15th and the 20th century. 1389-1413 - during Sikandar Shah Miri, 1506-1585 - during the Chaks (Shias), 1585-1752 - during the Mughals, 1753 - during Faqierullah and his son Fazal Kanth's tyrannical misrule, 1931 - the events of July of that year, 1947-48 during partition and finally the seventh exodus after the events of 19 January 1990.

The author writes "Physical torture in the most ruthless fashion, mental agony, emotional, spiritual anguish, fleecing punitive taxes, indignity heaped on the male members of the hapless community. Unchecked harassment and shameless molestation of women folk and more than most the commendable remarkable and unbeaten will to preserve the faith that had been good enough for their forefathers could perhaps have been the reasons that compelled this exquisitely cultured and literate, non-violent and highly tolerant community with rich and radiant heritage to flee the land of their genesis, of their Saints and Sages, of their mature ancestors"

In 1990 alone Thousands upon thousands lost their homes. The International Commission for Human Rights and Religious freedom (ICHRRF) has recognised the 1989-1991 atrocities on Kashmiri Hindus as an “act of genocide”

"Over three decades after thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were uprooted from the Valley overnight in the wake of terror threats, they are still waiting to return to their homes. The exodus happened on 19 January 1990. Since then, the day has been remembered as ‘Vishthapna Diwas’ (Day of Exile) by Hindu organisations."

Sriram(Hari)