Night of terror that prefaced years of exile
As a separatist movement rose alongside discontent with the government, a local leader’s murder and a gun march by militants contributed to panic among Kashmiri Pandits. Then, Azadi slogans started blaring in neighbourhoods
Ankur Dutta, an assistant professor at South Asian University.
As Pandits streamed into Jammu and Delhi, the stretched infrastructure of these cities struggled to cope with the influx. In Jammu, Pandits were packed into small tenements with little food or water, and a perennial shortage of supplies. From the cool climes of the Valley, they were in tents in the searing summer where temperatures regularly breached 40 degree Celsius.
In Delhi, Shakdher and others lobbied with the government to build camps and even held a march to the Red Fort in February 1991 to press the administration for more funds. By March, camps were set up in South Extension, Malviya Nagar, Patel Nagar and other parts of the city. Three months later, the government set up a monthly allowance of Rs 125 for each person.
“But there was no roadmap for our return. The government didn’t even try to stop the sale of our houses and furniture. All these years, we are living without political power,” said Shakdher.
Many Pandit families reported massive economic losses, and some even went back to Srinagar to recover property, only to find their houses encroached. “The emotional losses were also devastating. These people battled not just a loss of home but also a loss of status. They had to build a life from scratch,” said Dutta. On January 21, security forces opened fire at protesters on the Gawa Kadal bridge, killing an estimated 100 people demonstrating against the search-and-raid operations that had began two days before. Kashmir would never be the same.
AN EXODUS
By the end of January, waves of Pandits had fled the Valley; prices of trucks had trebled to Rs 5,000 one way. But some, like Tickoo, stayed back. A family from Janpora hired a truck for Jammu, only to find the driver – who was Muslim – refuse the trip halfway because of a perceived danger to his life in Hindu-majority Jammu.
“It was past midnight and the family had to return. They are now the only Pandit family in the village,” said Tickoo.
A number of other prominent Pandits were murdered in the next few months – the community organisation Panun Kashmir estimates around 350 – but some doggedly decided to stay back.
One of them was the poet Sarvendra Kaul ‘Premi’. A resident of Shali village in Anantnag district, Kaul had faith in Kashmir’s multicultural core and on April 25, hosted an Eid celebration at his home.
Three days later, there was a knock at the his door at 9pm. His eldest son Virender went down to find three masked men, who pushed the family into a room at gunpoint and raided the house.
After roughly six hours of loot, the men had packed the gold and cash into sacks; but asked Kaul and Virender to accompany them outside for a “chat” with their commander. “Dad had never harmed anyone. He helped many Muslims. The Quran was in his puja room,” said his younger son Rajinder.
Three days later, the bodies of father and son were found near a ditch. They had been strangled. “Every Pandit left our village that night, never to come back. Someday, our history will be known,” said Rajinder.