B L Saraf

Some days back BJP president J B Nadda was in Jammu. He exhorted party workers to gear up for upcoming Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir and asked them to reach out the communities hear their grievances and report for necessary action .That brings forth the plight of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community.

Every community’s life like every person’s is a unique story which becomes worth narrating only after the community or the person receives recognition in ways that matter to the world.

It is no exaggeration that the Kashmiri Pandit community (KPs) has had the story and a recognition. But, today, when we look into what lies ahead and the tectonic changes this story has suffered in the recent past people may find it hard to understand.

After 1990 and as things stand with them today, the Pandit community feels compelled to walk a path of an irresistible trajectory with the foregone conclusion of its collective destiny fading into the history as a lost community. Elements are working overtime in this direction.

If the current trend goes time will not be far off when the community will remain KPs just only in the name. Individual members of the community may prosper wherever they live .But the authenticity of being Kashmiri Pandits in identity and make up is destined to wither away.

After thirty four years of their forced expulsion from Kashmir many KPs have lost hope of the home return. With some exceptions, Governments both at Centre and in the State have remained indifferent to their plight.

One thought that after having followed the ‘wish ‘ of the BJP, by voting for a political party in Kashmir ( about to shut the shop ) in recently held Lok Sabha election, the party president would at least appreciate the community and express a word on its suffering .

His silence was a big disappointment. PM Narendra Modi was in Srinagar, on 11th June, where he took part in annual Yoga Day celebrations, organized on the banks of Dal Lake and the foothill of Zabarwan forest. Contrary to the expectations of the community, he didn’t make any reference to the most revered KP saint, an exponent of Kashmir Shivism and internationally known Yoga Guru, Swami Laxman Joo whose abode, Incidentally, happened to be just a couple of kilometers away from the venue .

Situation being as it is, it is time to take stock where KPS stand today and how do their prospects look like to survive as a distinct sect, in the familiar atmosphere, within the broader frame work of Sanatan Dharam and the Indian nation.

Anthropological studies reveal that it is the land one belongs to which holds firm his marks of identity and physical and social characteristics. The moment he is uprooted from his birth place his grip on these attributes is loosened.

Living far away from their homeland Pandits may find it increasingly different in any future scenario to be both Pandits and the Kashmiris, while for their pure survival they shall, both consciously and sub -consciously, be making efforts to assimilate with the cultural value system of their host societies .

Today, the Pandit Diaspora is widespread across the globe. By the dint of hard work and ability many KPs have settled well in their host countries.

What makes KPs problem worrying is that nobody among them has time or inclination to look for the truth .It is important to have self probing and stay calm. Remember that people who see things and think one way often have difficulty in seeing things and think another way.

Pandits have allowed many problems to go unnoticed and unaddressed to create an impression that it is acceptable to tolerate such things. It shouldn’t sound pessimistic – but a fact nonetheless – that for Pandits the zone of choice stands restricted. As it looks today, they have come to a crossroad where one path leads to the hopelessness and other to the extinction.

In this situation if some among them strive to find a third way which may lead to the amelioration of community woes and rid it of the curse of homelessness they must be encouraged. We have to retain a glimmer of hope: though not discounting the effects of despondency which has overwhelmed the KP community.

The KPs have to do a lot by themselves. Nobody is going to burn his fingers pulling their chestnuts out of the fire. It is no wisdom to live perennially in a time warp, as hostage to the history.

While as it may not be prudent to forget the history – lest it repeats itself – nonetheless an attempt has to be made to cut through the mesh woven around thought process and unshackle mental prejudices so as to judge things in an ever evolving perspective. Longish exile has complicated the KP’s Ghar Wapsi : such a position calls for a calibrated approach to tackle the issue .

Among other things, there is a need for an interaction with the emancipated and nationalistic quarters among the majority community in Kashmir which may, hopefully, mature into a reconciliation on equal terms, without a hint of condescension .

Religious places need protection

The Pandit community has since long been struggling for the statutory protection of its spiritual and cultural sign post – Temples and Shrines in the Valley. The least government at Delhi can do is to grant a statutory cover to the Temples and Shrines in Kashmir which would ensure their care, protection , transparent management and safety of the invaluable assets .

It will be a big Confidence Building Measure for the internally displaced community to think of Ghar Wapsi .

Here it will be appropriate to mention the latest order of the Hon High Court which has called up on the District Magistrates of the Valley to ensure protection and maintenance of the Hindu religious places and their assets. The order is encouraging in as much as it accords a Judicial recognition to what the displaced Hindus have been saying that these places stand desecrated and vandalized.

That a statutory law alone can take care of these places .The order though welcome, can’t be a substitute for the law enacted by the legislature which will ensure proper and transparent management of the temples.

In 2021 the UT Government set up a Portal to ensure protection of the immovable assets left in Kashmir by the internally displaced persons. Provisions of the Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997 were invoked.

However, the Portal didn’t yield desired results. Latest order of Hon High Court clubbing together for disposal dozens of matters, having arisen under the Act, is one such example. To put teeth to the Act and ensure speedy disposal of the cases there is need to have a Tribunal armed with special powers to deal with such cases in a summary manner.

Probably, Assembly election will be held in September. Though KPs don’t have much say in the matter yet, in this regard, there are certain things which they may keep in consideration . It is no wisdom to put all eggs in one basket, howsoever charming the basket may be.

We can’t be choosy but a distinction is desirable between the real sympathizers, with record of some tangible service to the community, and the lip serving ones. No political force sworn to the Indian constitution is untouchable. After all, depending upon the people’s choice, Pandits will have to deal in future with the elected one.

(The author is Former Principal District & Sessions Judge)