News Analysis India

Tag: Kashmiri Pandits

  • Despite fear, Kheer Bhawani Mela to be held on June 8 in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district

    Express News Service

    SRINAGAR: Even as fear has gripped the migrant Kashmiri Pandits and minority community over targeted killings by militants in the Valley, the annual Zeshta Ashtami festival known as Kheer Bhawani mela would be held at Kheer Bhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on June 8.

    Priest of the Kheer Bhawani temple Pandit Kalbushan Sharma told The New Indian Express that the annual Kheer Bhawani mela would be held on June 8 and preparations are underway for the yearly festival.

    The famous Ragnya Devi temple also known as Kheer Bhawani temple at Tulumulla area in Ganderbal district is revered by the Kashmiri Pandits. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits visit the temple every year on the occasion of the annual Zeshta Ashtami festival.

    The annual festival was held in a low-key affair in 2021 with only a handful of devotees visiting the temple due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, the annual mela was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic but the Aarti was telecast online.

    Sharma said in view of the prevailing situation in the Valley, a lesser number of Pandit devotees are expected to visit the temple this year. “We expect 10000-15000 devotees to visit the temple on June 8,” he said.

    The flow of Kashmiri Pandit devotees to the temple has declined after the killing of Pandit employee Rahul Bhat on May 12 and subsequent target killings in the Valley. In 2019, about 55000 devotees visited the temple and offered special puja at the festival.

    The temple premises also has a spring and according to the Pandits, the colour of the water in the spring is an indicator of the situation in the valley. According to Sharma, the spring in the temple has changed its colour and now the water of the spring is blue colour

    “The colour of the spring was pink a fortnight back and now it is blue.  The blue signifies the colour of peace,” he said and hoped that there would be peace and tranquillity in J&K. Sharma said if the spring exhibits red or black colour, it is being seen as a bad omen.

    The Pandits had migrated en masse from Kashmir after the eruption of militancy in 1989. However, they have been annually visiting Kashmir since 1994 to attend the Kheer Bhawani festival.

  • Rahul Bhat’s killing: Kashmiri Pandits take out protest march in Srinagar

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: Kashmiri Pandits took out a protest march on Saturday against the killing of Rahul Bhat and staged a shit in front of the famous clock tower in Lal Chowk demanding justice for the slain government employee.

    Rahul Bhat (35), who had got the job of a clerk under the special employment package for migrants in 20120-11, was gunned down by terrorists inside the Tehsil office in Chadoora town on May 12. Kashmiri Pandits assembled near Bund in the Lal Mandi area of the city and held a puja for Bhat on the banks of the Jhelum river, following which they began to march towards Lal Chowk.

    After reaching Lal Chowk, the protesters held a sit-in demanding justice for Bhat and strict action against the authorities in Budgam as well as the assailants. Raising slogans against the administration, they also demanded that Kashmiri Pandits, who got jobs under the prime minister’s package, be relocated.

    Later, the protestors marched to the BJP’s state office in the Jawahar Nagar area of the city, held a sit-in outside it and raised slogans against the party. The protestors dispersed peacefully afterwards. Protests have been held at several places in Jammu and Kashmir over the killing of Bhat as well as the “failure” of the administration in providing security to Kashmiri Pandit employees.

  • Amend law to allow visit to Sharda Peeth in PoK: Kashmiri Pandits

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: Kashmiri Pandits with backing from ‘Save Sharda Committe’ have urged the Union Government to make an amendment to the law to allow Indians to visit Sharada Peeth in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as previously done in Kartarpur. They have also requested the Union Government to make arrangements for the pilgrimage.

    “Indians can only visit Sharda Peeth if they have their relatives there… but many do not. I had visited Kartarpur Gurudwara but why not Sharda Peeth,” questioned the committee head Ravinder Pandita.

    The members of the committee were at Bidadi to collect carved stones for the temple construction near the Indian side of Line of Control (LoC) at Teetwal.

    The construction is in progress and is expected to be completed in a year. He also claimed that reclamation of the 500 square yards base camp plot on the Indian side and the construction of the temple, burnt in 1947, is in progress with the blessings of Sringeri Mutt.

    He added that Muslims in PoK have installed a picture of Sharda Maata inside the shrine in 2017 and they offer flowers. “For the first time, we have documents from the PoK government with a landmark judgment for the preservation of the Peeth and have received an order from the archaeology department on the maintenance of its sanctity. Travel and trade have made people to people contact strong and hence the amendment should be made to allow us to travel,” he demanded.

  • Kashmiri Pandits stage protest in Jammu against terrorist attack on community member

    By PTI

    JAMMU: An organisation of Kashmiri Pandits staged a demonstration here on Wednesday, protesting against the recent terrorist attack on a community member in Kashmir Valley.

    The Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS) said the attack on Bal Krishan Bhat in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday was orchestrated at the behest of Pakistan to instil fear in Kashmiri Pandits.

    Bhat suffered injuries when terrorists shot at him outside his medical store in Chotigam, and was undergoing treatment at an Army facility in Srinagar.

    Kashmiri Pandits are targeted in the valley “whenever some prominent persons from the government or outside speak about their return”, YAIKS president R K Bhat said.

    “It should serve as an eye-opener that there are elements who are against our return. We are not anymore afraid. We are determined to return to our roots and request the prime minister to announce a comprehensive rehabilitation policy for the community after discussing with our representatives,” he said.

    The YAIKS president appealed to Kashmir-based political parties, religious preachers and the civil society to come forward and lend their support to the fight these destructive forces.

  • Twinkle Khanna comes under attack for her remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’ 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Author and former Bollywood actor Twinkle Khanna is being criticised on social media for making a tongue-in-cheek remark about the film “The Kashmir Files” in her Sunday column for a leading daily.

    In her satirical column published on April 3 with the headline ‘Did Will Smith learn a one-tight-slap lesson from India?’ on the shocking turn of events at the 2022 Oscars ceremony, Khanna also wrote about how she was planning to register ‘Nail Files’, a title inspired by Vivek Agnihotri’s recently released film based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s.

    Under her nom de plume ‘Mrs Funnybones’, Khanna wrote that the potential film ‘Nail Files’ may revolve around a “disastrous manicure”, which she said would be “better than putting the final nail into the communal coffin”.

    The film has been called out for its problematic politics by some critics and authors but that has not affected its box office collection as the movie, released on March 11, has minted Rs 331 crore, according to the figures given by the producers in a tweet.

    The 47-year-old Khanna, who is the daughter of prolific Hindi cinema stars Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, was called out on social media by users who described her as a “shallow” Bollywood personality “devoid of morals”.

    Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, a Kashmiri Pandit, appealed to the columnist to not be insensitive towards the plight of the community. 

    Commenting on her column, Pandit tweeted Monday evening, “@mrsfunnybones ma’am, you are too late. This film (#KashmirFiles) on the genocide of #KashmiriPandits has already hit the nail on the communal coffin of #IslamicTerrorism. Request you not be so insensitive towards the genocide of 7 lac #KashmiriPandits.

    .@mrsfunnybones ma’am, you are too late. This film (#KashmirFiles) on the genocide of #KashmiriPandits has already hit the nail on the communal coffin of #IslamicTerrorism.Request you not be so insensitive towards the genocide of 7 lac #KashmiriPandits . pic.twitter.com/3CMQqRm63x
    — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) April 4, 2022
    ” Another user wrote, “She does seem daft and insensitive to say this. All the Bollywood fraternity are shallow and devoid of morals.”

     Khanna’s comments come weeks after her husband and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar congratulated “The Kashmir Files” director on the success of the film, also quipping how it affected the box office business of his film “Bachchhan Paandey”, which was released on March 18.

    Kumar, known for his pro-establishment stand as opposed to his wife’s, had last month at an event said Agnihotri has brought a “harrowing truth to light” through his film.

    Khanna has been away from social media since Sunday after she shared the link to her column and retweeted it on her Twitter page.

  • Have ‘Kashmiri Pandits’ become ‘Kashmiri Migrant Employees’? Centre thinks so

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Have Kashmiri Pandits become ‘Kashmiri Migrant Employees’ in the eyes of the Government of India?  At a time when there’s a growing sentiment on the plight Kashmiri Pandits fuelled by Bollywood film ‘The Kashmir Files’, the Ministry of Home Affairs has called them ‘Kashmiri Migrant Employees’. 

    In a written reply to a zero-hour question raised by Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits on February 4, Nityanand Rai-the minister of state for Home Affairs called “Kashmiri Migrant Employees”.

    The Shiv Sena MP, reacting to Kashmiri Pandits being called ‘Kashmiri Migrant Employees’ said: “The letter speaks of Kashmiri Migrant Employees. Kashmiri Pandits are not migrants sir, Kashmir is their home and they continue to wait to return with dignity and honour”.

    According to the written response received by Chaturvedi, out of 6,000 Transit Accommodations (TAs) approved by the government to house Kashmiri Migrant Employees in Kashmir valley, only 1,025 units have been completed while 1,488 units are in different stages of completion.

    “In the initial phase the private land was to be acquired for construction of these transit accommodations. However, due to cost escalation and time overrun in land acquisition process, Govt of J&K in 2019 to acquire state land with the aim to speed up the construction works,” the ministry noted in the written reply.

    “It is expected that construction will be completed by 2023,” it said. 

    Category ‘Y’ cover for the kashmir files maker

    Film director behind The Kashmir Files Vivek Agnihotri has been given ‘Y’ category security with CRPF commando cover in light of the threats to his security following the release of the film.

  • Centre ‘weaponising’ pain of Kashmiri Pandits by promoting ‘Kashmir Files’, says Mehbooba

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: The aggressive manner in which the Centre is promoting ‘The Kashmir Files’ film and ‘weaponising’ the pain of Kashmiri Pandits makes its ‘ill intention’ obvious, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said instead of healing old wounds and creating a conducive atmosphere between the two communities, the Centre is ‘deliberately tearing them apart’.

    ‘The manner in which GOI (government of India) is aggressively promoting Kashmir Files & is weaponising pain of Kashmiri Pandits makes their ill intention obvious,’ Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

    Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s. It stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi among others.

  • Expedite return of Kashmiri Pandits living in exile: Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi to Centre

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday asked the government to expedite the construction of transit accommodation units for Kashmiri Pandits and to facilitate their return to the valley.

    Raising the issue of the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the Shiv Sena MP said they have been living in exile for 32 years and they continue to be denied the right to return home.

    In 2015, the government had promised to construct 6,000 transit accommodations for Kashmiri Pandits. Unfortunately, as per the department-related parliamentary standing committee of Home Affairs, the work has been progressing slowly, and only 15 per cent of the work has been completed till date, she said.

    “It is unfortunate that despite the government’s big promises, post the removal of Article 370, after allowing people from outside the state to buy land there, Kashmiri Pandits are denied their homes,” the Shiv Sena MP said.

    “…I urge the government to expedite the construction of transit accommodation units and to facilitate the return, rehabilitation, and empowerment of the Kashmiri Pandit community. They have been fighting a battle to go back home for the past 30 years. The government must ensure their safe return and a dignified life for them,” she said.

    In his Zero Hour mention, Binoy Viswam of the Communist Party of India expressed concerns over the privatization of public sector units and said it was creating fear among the people. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Kumar Jha made a case for states governments and Centre to strengthen the framework of national employment policy.

  • BJP weaponising the pain of Kashmiri Pandits to garner votes: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti

    By PTI

    JAMMU: Accusing the BJP of weaponising the pain of Kashmiri Pandits to garner votes and further its “divisive politics”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said Kashmiri Muslims have to work harder on seeing the return of their Hindu brethren in a dignified manner.

    She said some BJP-linked persons, who are sitting in the studios in Delhi and claim to represent the community, are spitting venom and are sabotaging any meeting point between the Pandits and Muslims of the valley.

    “They (Kashmiri migrant Pandits) are out of their homes for such a long time and want to be back but the question is how to go about it. The way the BJP has adopted the issue is to further create a division between the two communities (Pandits and Muslims) rather than bring them together,” Mufti told PTI at her party’s headquarters here.

    Five delegations including that of Kashmiri Pandits met the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and briefed her about their issues and concerns in the backdrop of the recent targeted killings in the valley.

    She said Kashmiri Muslims are the “losers” in the migration of the Pandits but to see their return to the valley, it ultimately rests on the people, especially the new generation, to reach out to each other and work for building an atmosphere of brotherhood prevalent prior to the eruption of militancy in 1990.

    “Kashmiri Pandits need to speak in unison and reject the vested interests who are speaking venom to further the divide May be we (the Muslims of Kashmir) have to work harder on seeing their return in a dignified manner,” the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president said.

    Mufti said the targeted killings took place in the valley despite prior information with the government that the Pandits will be attacked.

    “The killings triggered a sense of insecurity among the Pandit employees working in the valley forcing them to flee in panic. The height of things is that the government is very much confused which is evident from the fact that sometimes they ask the employees to report back to their duties and sometimes they ask them to stay back (in Jammu),” she said.

    Mufti said PDP patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed chalked out a programme for their return with the then central government headed by former prime minister Manmohan Singh that worked satisfactorily.

    “We started building accommodations and transit camps, whether it was in Vessu, Sheikhpora, Mattan or Ganderbal, for the Pandit youth employed under the PM Employment Package. Unfortunately, the process lost its pace under the current dispensation which failed to provide two bedrooms with a kitchen to such employees despite so many years,” she said.

    Asking the Pandit community to isolate the vested interests toeing the BJP agenda, Mufti said some people from Delhi attempting to represent the entire community are spitting so much venom all the time that there does not seem to be a meeting ground.

    “They are sabotaging any meeting between the two communities because it suits the BJP that has weaponised Kashmiri Pandits’ pain to garner votes and further their agenda of divisive politics,” she said.

    Mufti said their venomous statements generate a reaction in Kashmir and there is also a backlash in Jammu as well.

    “The problem is that the voices that are trying to represent Kashmiri Pandits are doing a great disservice to them by vitiating the whole atmosphere.”

    She said all such people are linked to BJP by not only the ideology but even otherwise as well.

    “Their interest is connected with BJP in many ways including political and financial. So, they are trying to run the narrative of the BJP.”

    PDP State Secretary R K Pardesi, who was part of the Pandit delegation, said, “We have lost many generations but the dream to return to the valley remained unfulfilled.”

    “Under the leadership of Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed), a hope rekindled for our return when the former chief minister set up accommodation at ‘Dharam Shallas’ at famous temples in Mattan and Ganderbal in 2002. The move also facilitated interactions between the two communities but his death snatched a true well-wisher of the community,” Pardesi said.

    He said PDP under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti is the only party with a vision and roadmap to ensure the dignified return and rehabilitation of the Pandits in the valley.

    “The BJP has done only lip service over the past seven years. I challenge them to single out even one concrete step which has been taken by the party for our return,” he said.

    The alleged failure of the government led to the innocent civilian killings by militants in the valley, Pardesi added.

  • More fear this time than 1990s when J&K militancy was at peak: Pandits

    Express News Service

    SRINAGAR:  After the recent spate in targeted killings of civilians and minority community members by militants in Srinagar, the Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley said there is more fear this time as compared to 1990 when militancy had erupted in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the Pandit businessman, whose salesman was shot dead by militants near his shop on Monday evening, has asserted that he won’t leave Kashmir.

    Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo told this newspaper that there is more fear, especially in Srinagar, now as compared to early 1990s. “The killings today are taking place at will. This is very dangerous. In the 1990s, the militants were identifiable but today nobody knows anything about these militants,” Tickoo said.

    At least 808 Pandit families had not migrated from the Valley after eruption of militancy in early 1990s.“Earlier, I used to go out but nowadays I have restricted my movement. The main door of my house used to remain open during the day but nowadays it remains locked 24×7 and we peep through the window whenever somebody knocks at the door before opening the door,” said another Kashmiri Pandit.

    He said this situation was not this alarming when militancy was at its peak in the 1990s. The Kashmiri Pandit businessman Dr Sandip Mawa, whose salesman was shot dead by militants in an apparent mistaken identity by militants on Monday, said he had been alerted by the police about eight months back that he and his father were facing threat. 

    He said the majority community is also in fear as they are unable to do anything. “They are trying to scare the minority and majority communities”. Sandeep, however, said there is no question of him leaving this place.