The film Kashmir Files has finally uncovered the long hidden ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits. However, instead of experiencing shame and remorse, a significant section of media, academics and intellectuals belonging to civil society have instead stooped to distorting history, even discrediting the victims themselves. It is therefore imperative that we, the Pandits, ensure that our history is preserved.

Victims of transgenerational trauma, none of the horrors of our past were discussed in our families. Growing up, one heard hushed references of a time when the pandits were reduced to a handful of families in the valley. When asked about our origin, past exoduses were mentioned without any detail. Few took the effort to read and inform themselves. Some even falling for the narrative generated by the media and historians.

Kashmiri history has been very well documented. Every Indian in school learned that Kalhan wrote Rajtarangini one of the best written chronicles of rulers in human history. Yet few know that Kalhan, a Kashmiri Pandit’s book is primarily on the kings of Kashmir. Jonaraja continues with Dvitiya and his pupil Srivara with the Tritiya Rajtarangini covering centuries. In addition to Kashmiri, we also have Persian and other historical sources like the Sikhs who ruled Kashmir.

Like the Zoroastrians, the advent of Islam in Kashmir in 14^th century was disastrous for the Kashmiri Hindus. By the end of the century, we experienced the first exodus.

First Exodus (1389 – 1420)

This period is marked by the rule of Sultan Sikander who was given the honorary title of ‘Butshikan’ or destroyers of idols. He was under the influence of the Sufi Mir Mohamad Hamdani who urged him to eradicate the infidel’s root and branch, from Kashmir.

Royal edicts were issued, ordering the Pandits to convert or die. Bhatta Mazaar (Grave of Pandits who were and are referred as Bhattas) on the Dal Lake in Srinagar is said to have received it infamous name as the place where ‘7 maunds’ of sacred thread collected form the bodies of the Pandit drowned in the Dal was burnt.

Jonaraja, paints a graphic picture writing that crowds of Hindus ran away in different directions, their life miserable with hunger and fatigue. Many died in the scorching heat. Some disguised as Muslims, roamed about the country, searching for their distressed families. “Hindus lolled out their tongues like dogs, looking for a dog's morsel at every door.” He compares the genocide to locusts, descending on and destroying a paddy field.

Culturally, the eradication took place by imposing a ban on Hindu festivals and destruction of their temples. The famous Sun temple at Martand was burnt down. Material from many temples destroyed were used to build masjids and sufi khanqahs. The khanqah in Bijbehera is still referred to as the Vijiveshwara Khanqah.

One of the few oral histories told in our families, refers to only 11 Pandit families surviving in the valley at the end of this period.

Second Exodus (1505 – 1514)
 

Following the exodus there was about a century of peace and tranquility especially under the rule of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. The idea of Kashmiriyat took root during his reign. These good times unfortunately did not last and when the Chaks, Shias from Dard took control, the killings and persecution restarted. The Pandits became an easy target in the conflict between the ultra-conservative Shia, Noorbakshiya and the Sunnis. There are many brutal episodes during this period that made many Pandits flee to seek refuge out of the valley.

Mir Shamshauddin Araqi a zealot from Herat visited Kashmir twice. Each time heralding death and misery. According to the Baharistan-i-Shahi, a Persian chronicle of the period “All traces of infidelity and idol worship was replaced by Islamic symbols and the infidels and holy thread wearers of Kashmir were converted to Islam.” 24,000 Brahmin families were converted to Islam. 2000 Brahmins were converted each day by administering the Kalima after removing their sacred thread. The ritual followed by circumcision and feeding of beef. After the valley Araqi turned his attention to Buddhist Kargil which till today is a Shia majority district of Ladakh.

Third Exodus (Mughals Jahangir-Aurangzeb and later Mughals)
 

Akbar conquered Kashmir in 1585 and brought respite to the Pandits and ushered in an era of peace. He repealed the hated jizya and other taxes imposed by the Chaks. According to the Ain-i-akbari he visited the temple at Martand and offered gifts. Kashmiriyat was rekindled. This era produced the poet Habba Khatoon.

His son and grandson sadly did not follow him. Jahangir’s love for Kashmir did not extend to the Pandits. His subedar Itquad Khan imposed taxes and forcefully converted many Hindus. Francoi Bernier the French traveler writes that Shahjahan’s summer palace was built from demolished temples. The puritanical Aurangzeb reimposed Jizya and his governor unleashed a reign of terror. According to Sikh historical accounts the Pandits asked Guru Teg Bahadur to intervene. The resulting confrontation between the Sikh and Mughals resulted in the martyrdom of the Guru.

It was in this period that large numbers of Pandits found refuge in the Bazaar Sitaram area of Delhi and formed a Kashmiri Mohalla. My personal connection is that my grandfather was born in the haveli of his maternal grandfather there. More famously this was where Kamla Kaul grew up and married Jawaharlal.

Fourth Exodus (Afghans 1753 to the Sikhs)
 

Abdali’s capture of Kashmir started another horror-filled chapter for the Pandits. In addition to the atrocities in the past the Afghans especially targeted the Pandit women. Pandit parents resorted to shaving the head of their daughters, some even cutting off their noses and ears to protect them. The Afghans introduced a practice called khos where a Muslim was entitled to jump on the back and take rides. Pandits were even banned from wearing turbans and shoes.

Fifth Exodus (1931 to post-Independence)

Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexation of Kashmir into the Sikh Empire and the subsequent Dogra rule were finally a prosperous phase for the Pandits. There was upward mobility, and many moved to elite positions in the state’s hierarchy. However, as seen previously the Pandits became an easy target when the Muslims in the valley revolted against the Dogras. In an attempt to destabilize Dogra rule, on July 13, 1931, large scale violence against the Pandits was instigated.  21 rioters were killed and the day and since has been observed as Martyr’s Day. The Pandits remember the day as Bhatta Loot or the day the Pandits were looted.

Post-Independence Pandits were forced to flee because of discriminatory policies and laws that targeted them specifically. In 1950 an act called the J&K Landed Estates Abolition Act was enacted that confiscated land without providing compensation. The Pandits were targeted as their land holdings were typically agricultural. Orchards and pasture lands that were mostly Muslim owned were exempt. A tiny minority in the state, the Pandits formed the majority of the 9000 whose land was taken away. In addition, there was rampant discrimination in employment and education. Indians are well versed with affirmative action where a minimum quota is provided for the backward groups. In Kashmir, the government passed an order creating a maximum admission limit for Pandit students.

Sixth Exodus (1986)

Largely restricted to South Kashmir, this was really the precursor to the next one. Adding to the list of bizarre occurrences in Kashmir, this riot was instigated by the Chief Minister GM Shah himself. In response to protest in Jammu, the CM addressed a rally in Anantnag (referred as Islamabad by the Kashmiri Muslim) where he declared that Islam was in danger. The frenzied crowd attacked Pandits and their properties. Numerous temples were destroyed. In 2012 the state government admitted in the assembly that 208 temples had been attacked and damaged. One of the primary characters would become India’s home minister a few years later.
The near complete silence from the Indian leadership, intelligentsia and media convinced many Pandits in South Kashmir, whose source of livelihood had been destroyed that there was no future for them in the valley. It also marked the establishment of Jihad to the separatist movement. The slogans started to shift from Azadi to Kashmir banega Pakistan and the establishment of Nizam-i-Mustafa.

Seventh Exodus (Post 1989)
 

The response, rather the lack of response by the Indian state and the citizenry to the event in 1986 signaled the Jihadi that Nizam-i-Mustafa was a real possibility. That all that was needed was one huge thrust to oust the kafirs. The rest of India was too busy with Mandir and Masjid to notice and care. The Kashmir Files narrates some of the incidents that occurred in the period and the politics behind it.


It has now been over three decades. An entire generation born in exile is now having their own children. Much like my family, the earlier refugees, the current ones have started to lose their link with the valley. With homes looted and burnt down there is no place to return amid mostly hostile neighbors. Most financially distressed sold off their properties cheap. Virtually nothing was done by the State after Independence to protect and preserve our culture.

My own family migrated during the reign of Aurangzeb. They first settled in Bareilly and later moved to Lucknow. Pandit Zind Ram Chaudhary acquired the name Tankha in his role of paymaster of Nawab Asif-ud-Daula's army. He built a Shiv temple and a shrine for our kuldevi Ragya dressed in Kashmiri attire.
 

Pandits migrated all over North India and put down roots in different towns and cities adding to them. Endogamy helped preserve most of the culture and traditions with some adaptations. Somethings that needed a core population like language was lost. The earlier migrants like my family do not speak Kashmiri. Today even in the valley the Sharda script is all but dead. Indian currency has the amount written in all official languages. Kashmiri is written in the Persian script.

Sikandar Butshikan’s dream of a Pandit free Kashmir may finally be realized in 80% Hindu majority Independent India. The faithful can then add ‘Bhattashikan’ (destroyers of Pandits) …

Image source: Wikimedia