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Welcome to International Journal of Research in Social Sciences & HumanitiesE-ISSN : 2249 - 4642 | P-ISSN: 2454 - 4671 IMPACT FACTOR: 8.561 |
Abstract
THE EXODUS OF KASHMIRI PANDITS AND ITS IMPACT (1989- 2002)
Gh. Rasool Bhat
Volume: 2 Issue: 4 2012
Abstract:
Once the militant violence engulfed the state of J&K, majority of the Pandit community living in the valley left to other parts of the country. Some 90% of 160,000-170,000 community left in what is described as a case of ethnic cleansing. What led to the exodus of these Pandits? What was the impact of this exodus? The present paper will focus on these issues. The Pandit community of Kashmir irrespective of their Hindu religion have a distinct place in the society of Kashmir. The Muslims and Pandits of Kashmir have been living together through the ages as brothers with complete amity. Kashmiri pandits sanskritised the Himalayas. The contribution of Kashmiri Pandits to language, linguistics and grammer, philosophy and religion, aesthetics and historiography, astrology and mathematics is imparalleled and is deeply embedded in the edifice of Indian civilisation. However, in the wake of mass uprising in Kashmir against the Indian state, Kashmiri Pandits like their Muslim compatriots also become victims of post1988 voilence1 in Kashmir, relatively little has been published on them. Two studies described history and anthropology of KP’s prior to 1990 2. On the other hand a number of books present communally painted pictures of the community3. Many opinion based but less informative articles have been written4 . Most of the scholarly works on Kashmir since 1990 mention Kashmiri Pandits in a passing reference5. Focus of the most of the academic studies has been the majority in the valley6, wider theories of causatian7 or interpretations through a nationalist prism8. Leaving the Pandits overlooked or reduced to a couple of footnotes. The present article tries to explain what happened to Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and beyond examining the fallout of the mass-migration and its impact on the various facets of life
References
- The website „Save Kashmir‟ (www.Jammu-Kashmir.org.jk).
- See sender H.M., „The Kashmiri Pandits : a study of cultural choice in north India ( New York: Oxford University press, 1988) : Madam T.N, family and kingship: a study of the Pandits of rural Kashmir (New York: Oxford University press, 1989).
- See for example Anil Maheshwari, Crescent over Kashmir : Politics of Mullaism (New Delhi : Rupa & Co, 1993) and Hari Jaising, Kashmir ; A tale of Shame (New Delhi : UBSPD, 1996).
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- See for example, Victoria Schofield, Kashmir in the Crossfire (London :I.B.Tauris, 1996) : Sumit Ganguly, The Crisis in Kashmir :portents of war, hopes of peace (New York :Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1997) ; and Robert Wirsing, India, Pakistan and Kashmir Dispute : On regional conflict and its resolution ( New York : St. Martins Press, 1994).
- See for example, Victoria Schofield, Kashmir in Conflict (London :I.B.Tauris, 2000); Alastair Lamb, Kashmir : A Disputed Legacy 1846-1990 (Hertingfordburg : Oxford Press, 1991) ; and Vernon Hewitt : Reclaiming the past, The search for political and cultural unity in contemporary Jammu and Kashmir (London : Portland Books, 1995).
- See for example, Sumit Ganguly, The Crisis in Kashmir (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998).
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- www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kashmir/mil-abuses.htm.
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- See Schofield, Op cit, Ref-6, P-245, and “Concern over exodus of KPs ; no communal tension in Kashmir, say militants” , Kashmir Times, 8 March 1990.
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- See “No communal overtones in Kashmir Exodus; Mufti” , Kashmir times, 27 March 1990.
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- Mishra, Op cit, Ref 10, P-119.
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- See All India Kashmiri Pandit Conference (AIKPC) asks militants to clarify stand, Kashmir Times, 21 February 1990.
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- Survey by the author.
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- Estimate given by people (called Dralz in Kashmir) dealing with this trade and having great financial benefits.
- PKM Op.cit Ref. 41, P-60.
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- Two teachers serving in school education in South Kashmir in 1980’s- survey by the Author.
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- Ibid, P-192.
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- Survey by the author.
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- A point made in the US Committee for refugees’ report, Country Report India, 1999, www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/scasia/India.htm.
- See Profile of Terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir (New Delhi : Ministry of Home Affairs, March, 1998).
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- See, The Indian Express, 23 March 2011.
- Mishra, Op.cit Ref- 10, P-122.
- See Op.cit Ref- 35.
- Vijay K.Sazawal, “A new focus, a new vision” , in Koshur Samachar (New Delhi : April 2000), P-3.

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