This section contains original Kashmir Files content with orginal incident, read at your own risk.
Thread on Kashmiri Pandit Exodus with details that are less known.
It did not start on 19 Jan 1990, it started way back in September 1989 when Pandit Tika Lal Taploo
Thread on Kashmiri Pandit Exodus with details that are less known.
It did not start on 19 Jan 1990, it started way back in September 1989 when Pandit Tika Lal Taploo
was shot dead in broad day light within 100 steps of his home in Bhan Mohala Sgr.
Barely three weeks after this murder in Srinagar, unknown gunmen shot and killed another Kashmiri Pandit (Kashmiri Hindu), retired Judge Nilakanth Ganjoo in broad day light in Maharaj Bazaar, Amira Kadal. He was a friend of my Uncle & used to visit him in JawaharNagar.
Justice Ganjoo, Sessions Judge in Srinagar had given a death sentence to Maqbool Bhat, the leader of Jammu & Kashmir National Liberation Front, whom he had found involved in the murder of Amar Chand, a CID Police Sub-Inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police, resident of Nadihal Bla
Kashmiri Pandits were fear struck with two shining & reputed members of minuscule community gone within weeks. What baffled them more was that two Muslim men who were witnesses on whose deposition Ganjoo had based judgement case were roaming free.
Radio Kashmir that evening called the killers as ‘unknown gunmen’.
In Nov, Farooq Abdullah announced the release of hundreds of boys from jails who had crossed over to POK for training.
They were the early activists of Muslim United Front (MUF), a newly formed political group.
In Nov, Farooq Abdullah announced the release of hundreds of boys from jails who had crossed over to POK for training.
They were the early activists of Muslim United Front (MUF), a newly formed political group.
MUF contested the 1987 elections & protested the NC’s influence & acts to rig the elections. Their protests were unheard by EC as well. The NC-Congress govt was rejected by MUF.
Pandits (3%) however stayed away from all politics of state.
Pandits (3%) however stayed away from all politics of state.
MUF, the frontline activists of Kashmir’s Jamaat-e-Islami, projected the rigging episode as a step towards suppression of Muslim predominance in the State. Armed resistance was the option and there were takers of the option in the Valley of Kashmir as well as in POK.
The idea of Islamic resistance movement highly suited late Zia-ul Haq’s (Military Dictator of Pakistan) ‘Operation Topac’ plan for Jammu and Kashmir, and Pakistan’s super intelligence organization, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) came into action.
JKLF with its twin centers in POJK and UK, initiated armed insurgency in the Kashmir Valley in the mid-1980s with outright support of ISI.
It opened its account of killing Hindus with the kidnapping & murder of Indian Assistant Commissioner Ravindra Mhatre in Birmingham in 1984.
It opened its account of killing Hindus with the kidnapping & murder of Indian Assistant Commissioner Ravindra Mhatre in Birmingham in 1984.
Pak strategy to whet the lust of the activists in POJK for domination over the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir was used, if the Valley was cleansed of its Hindu population, no matter howsoever tiny and insignificant they can have control over it.
There is an interesting debate offered by some Kashmiri Muslims who ignore lot of intricate details & question ‘Why didn’t Kafirs include Sikhs?’ if this was the plan.
There is two fold answer to this. I will come back to second part later in thread but here is the first one.
There is two fold answer to this. I will come back to second part later in thread but here is the first one.
Sikhs had burnt their hands recently in 1984 & had suffered genocide as well. ISI wanted to use the sentiment of Sikh orgs outside of india & hence harming kashmiri Sikh community was not made a part of plan. Of course ISI knew that Sikhs won’t stay for long when Hindus are gone.
Keep the 2killings in hindsight for further reading. 1341 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by JKLF & other groups that were in a race to establish who is better at killing Hindus. The number was given by Pannun Kashmir & doesn’t include people taken out from rivers & drains.
The refrain of their slogans was that they wanted their Kashmir without Pandit males but with their women folk.
Some of the slogans that can send shivers down your spine even today are- It makes me feel sad typing this tbh. I can’t imagine what it must have felt hearing these.
Some of the slogans that can send shivers down your spine even today are- It makes me feel sad typing this tbh. I can’t imagine what it must have felt hearing these.
And it began
Al Safa, a popular Urdu daily of Srinagar minced no words in telling the Pandits to leave the Valley within hours if they wanted to save their lives and honor.
Al Safa, a popular Urdu daily of Srinagar minced no words in telling the Pandits to leave the Valley within hours if they wanted to save their lives and honor.
When asked how many Kashmiri Pandits he had gunned down, Bitta replied, “I lost the count after killing 22 of them”. When asked who was the first victim of his bullets he took the name of one Satish Kumar Tiku, who was a friend (and perhaps also a class fellow) of Bitta Karate.
Yasin Malik, a terror comrade of Bitta was arrested in connection with the gunning down of six uniformed Indian Air Force personnel at Barzulla, Srinagar waiting at a bus stand. Yasin Malik riding the pillion of his friend’s bike opened fire at the standing airmen with an gun.
Among the killed were sqd ldr Ravi Khanna, and her wife still hasn’t got justice.
Fast forward it to UPA & Imagine PM Manmohan Singh shaking hands with the killer of the IAF men.
Fast forward it to UPA & Imagine PM Manmohan Singh shaking hands with the killer of the IAF men.
Ms. Girija Tickoo, a Kashmiri Pandit teacher in a government school in Kupwara district was coming out of the school building after collecting her salary when she was accosted by gunmen who kidnapped her to some unknown place where she was gang raped.
The assailants, fearing she might disclose their identity, forcibly put her under a machine saw and cut her body into pieces with a carpenter saw.
Avtar Krishan Koul, Deputy Director Food Supplies was gunned down by masked terrorists in his office.
Avtar Krishan Koul, Deputy Director Food Supplies was gunned down by masked terrorists in his office.
He had enquired into the disappearance of some truckloads of food grain supplies reportedly taken away by JKLF activists at gun point.
Lassa Kaul, Director Doordarshan (Tv) Srinagar was gunned down outside his house in Bhan Mohalla. He was accused of relaying anti-militancy news
Lassa Kaul, Director Doordarshan (Tv) Srinagar was gunned down outside his house in Bhan Mohalla. He was accused of relaying anti-militancy news
Pandit Premnath Bhat of Anantnag was a lawyer by profession and a very popular social figure much liked by people of all communities. Masked Jihadis barged into his house, dragged him out and emptied on him their magazines of their guns.
In November 1989, Sheela Tikoo was gunned down near Habba Kadal. On 4th of March, 1990, Mrs. M.N Paul, the wife of an Inspector of BSF was kidnapped, raped and then murdered because she happened to be the wife of a government official.
Also in March 1990, B.K. Ganjoo, an engineer in Telecommunication Department was brutally gunned down while he tried to hide himself in an empty drum used for storing rice, his wife was asked to eat rice mixed of husband bloods who died inside drum by Yasir Mailk.
In April 1990, a nurse named Sarla Bhat was kidnapped and continuously raped for several days before her dead body was thrown on the roadside.
In May 1990, Mrs. Prana Ganjoo and her husband Prof. K.L. Ganjoo were kidnapped in Sopore where the woman was raped and then both of them were murdered.
InJune,J.L. Ganjoo, her husband and her sister-in-law (husband's sister) were killed in their home in Ban Mohalla, Srinagar.
InJune,J.L. Ganjoo, her husband and her sister-in-law (husband's sister) were killed in their home in Ban Mohalla, Srinagar.
In July 1990, a working woman, namely Teja Dhar was shot dead on the roadside in Ali Kadal, Srinagar. In July 1990, a Pandit lady named Nanaji was gunned down on the roadside in Batamaloo, Srinagar.
In July 1990, Dr. Shani was locked up in her house in Karan Nagar and then the house was set on fire. Flames consumed her alive.
In August 1990, Babli Raina was raped in front of her family members in her house and then shot dead.
In August 1990, Babli Raina was raped in front of her family members in her house and then shot dead.
On 30th of April 1990, four armed persons forced entry into the house of Sarwanand Koul Premi in Anantnag. They dragged him out of his house along with Virender Koul, his 27-year old son for 'enquiry' and in the nearby jungle, the father and son both were gunned down.
Sarwanand Koul, a poet and scholar, was 64 years of age and had translated the Bhagwat Gita into Kashmiri. A copy of the Quran was preserved in his house which he used to read occasionally.
Panun Kashmir, a political organization of the displaced Pandits, has published a complete list of about 1341 Kashmiri Pandits who were killed by Jihadi armed men in the course of armed insurgency in the Valley of Kashmir in 1990 and after.
Interestingly the J&K State govt reduced the number of Pandits killed by militants below 200. It is argued that number is kept low to escape the censure by the UN, which according to Tokyo Convention has recognized killings beyond 200 as genocide.
I leave it to you to decide
I leave it to you to decide
After their departure the houses of the Kashmiri Pandits remained abandoned in the Kashmir Valley. Miscreants looted household goods, furniture, kitchenware, accessories, electronic gadgets, small libraries, papers, files and documents. Electricity and sanitary fittings were sold
In most cases even the doors and windows of these houses were removed and stolen. The bare structures were set on fire if these did not happen to be in densely populated areas. Large number of houses and properties went on distress sale.
Thus it can be concluded that return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the Kashmir Valley largely depends on the goodwill of the majority community in the Valley and also the efforts of New Delhi in understanding Kashmir in a better way.
Kashmiri Pandits were also subjected to horrific massacres as Jihadi insurgency fanned all over the Kashmir Valley and its adjoining areas. These were the people who had stayed or were just found in Kashmir as and when.
Eleven women, eleven men and two children were killed by the militants who numbered about 25. One village in valley has 11 Pandit families, comprising 52 people, rest pandit flees without families
Warning Images !
Warning Images !
So the men released by Farooq Abdullah crossed over to POK for trainings & while infiltrating back some men were caught,top four among them, namely Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani, Javed Mir and Yasin Malik.
When a Pandit rights activist in a seminar in the European Parliament in Brussels in 1992 asked Amanullah Khan (Chief Of JKLF) he replied. (Read Pic).
Stop here
Before moving ahead Ask yourself what is done to people who support india today in Kashmir?
Stop here
Before moving ahead Ask yourself what is done to people who support india today in Kashmir?
The NC-Congress alliance fell under pressure from militants & Farooq Abdullah escaped to London while his party members & congress men joined separatists or ran to jammu region. He himself is supposed to have met JKLF chief in 1974 & in London as well while Kashmir was burning.
JKLF had overthrown a govt & this alarmed ISI that movement may now turn political & JKLF might fall into India’s sweet political system & it created a parallel group Hizbul-Mujahideen to keep JKLF on feet. The two groups often engaged & killed each other’s members as well.
HM carried forward the policy of Pandit massacres initiated by the JKLF. In response, Amanullah Khan gave a call for a ‘Great March’ into Kashmir by mass violation of the ceasefire line at the border town of Uri. JKLF backed out of it. It resulted in 17 people dead by pak firing
ISI sidelined JKLF charging its proclaimed ideology of an Independent, United Jammu and Kashmir as diametrically opposite to Pakistan’s claims to the entire State and hence started raising many groups in Kashmir, eg Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad came into existence.
A Kashmiri Pandit published a letter in Kashmir Times after death of Taploo asking leadership to publicly spell out their policy towards Kashmiri Pandits in the light of the murder of a Pandit political leader.
The response in next day’s issue said, that the Pandits should join the armed movement for the liberation of Kashmir from the ‘occupation of India’ failing which they should be prepared for any fate
In private and in public, in homes and in mosques, Kashmir Valley’s Muslim society was in revolt. In their mass congregations, India was painted as the occupier and the Kashmiri Pandits were dubbed as the spies of India. The Pandits lived with that tag thereafter.
19th of January, 1990 the days were cold and nights bitter, though there was no snow on the ground.
Around 9 PM, loud & thunderous Islamic and pro-Pakistan slogans raised collectively by a multitude of humanity and relayed through powerful loudspeakers almost pierced ear drums.
Around 9 PM, loud & thunderous Islamic and pro-Pakistan slogans raised collectively by a multitude of humanity and relayed through powerful loudspeakers almost pierced ear drums.
Telephone bells began ringing loudly in the houses of most of the Pandits in Srinagar. Each caller on the other end of the line asked his relative, friend or acquaintance whether they were safe.
Respondents told each other to look into streets on what was never seen in history
Respondents told each other to look into streets on what was never seen in history
Masses of Muslim population, young, old, children, and women came out of their homes, crowded the streets, gesticulating vigorously and yelling slogans in favor of Islam, Pakistan and the insurgency.
Crowds of people carried rugs, carpets, mats and furnishing and spread it-
Crowds of people carried rugs, carpets, mats and furnishing and spread it-
out on the streets and squares. They got wood and lit bonfires to keep their bodies warm. Loudspeakers reverberated with Islamic slogans, praise for Pakistan,stories of the heroes of early Islamic conquests, the paradise created by Allah for the Momin and hell fire for the kuffar
The crux of these surcharged utterances was that all symptoms of kufr (heresy), butparast (idolatry) and dualism as with the Hindus had to be cleaned from daru’l salam.
No one in Pandit homes slept that night & no one went to pray on Hari Parbat as usual next day
No one in Pandit homes slept that night & no one went to pray on Hari Parbat as usual next day
The administration collapsed and law and order were thrown to winds. The police deserted their posts and the Pandits were left to themselves with their survival hanging in balance.
The neighbors changed colours overnight and so did their idiom as if they had thrown off the mask
The neighbors changed colours overnight and so did their idiom as if they had thrown off the mask
The government was knocked out by a single night of defiance and revolt and the next morning not a single policeman was visible anywhere in the city.They had withdrawn to their barracks or hid in their homes as the administrative machinery had collapsed and law and order crumbled
From the next morning viz. 20th of January, 1990 it was the rule of the mosque, the priest and the Islamists. Loud speakers fixed to mosque tops, blurred uninterruptedly cautioning the Pandits to leave the Valley.
Loud speakers fixed on mosque tops blurred a profusion of warnings of similar type. More and more anti-India demonstrations were to be seen on the streets in which people were mad with anger, hate and revenge. Kashmiri Pandits were fear struck & huddled like pigeons in homes.
@threadreaderapp unroll please
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