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| Kashmiri Crisis |
From:
Posted by shreyvats 
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| This and others by the author can be read at http://shreyvats.wordpress.com/ Crossing her arms round his neck, she closed her eyes and kissed her lover. She let herself go free � No mind working, Noworries, No hurries, No who's who, No reasons; just inexplicable euphoria. She knew lovely pictures: Birds tweeting ecstatically, rabbits and squirrels doing Tango, flowers blossoming just like their love. The Chinar shed its leaves, so as tochrysalis the lovers and Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper played aloud in the background. Their love was being celebrated.She looked in to his eyes. "We needn't fear anyone". She tightened her grip and said, "I will never let you go and nothing shall ever separate us : parents, religion, money nothing!!" Truly, none of those could part them. What did was Militancy and Fanaticism. Her Schmilblick lover was Saffron. Her name was Shivranjini Kak. Shivranjini fell in love with saffron when she accompanied her grandfather to their saffron fields in her ancestral village,located in the heart of Kashmir. She would get few streaks of Saffron and adore it all day long. She loved everything about her Darling: the aroma, the color, its intense nose, the golden-orange color it imparted to kheer and was godsmacked on how proficiently it cured cough and cold. But the romance was disrupted on January 19, 1990.A diktat was issued from the mosques for Kashmiri Pandits to either accept Islam, abide by the Nizam-e-Mustafa or to leave the Valley within 48 hours. Before the Pandits could fathom what had happened, their slaughtering started all over the valley. Posters threatening their life became ubiquitous. Local shops broad casted tapes of Benazir Bhutto imploring the Kashmiri Muslims to "sanctify" their blood by eliminating the Pandits. The reports of butchering, rape, Shivalinga desecration and temple demolitions poured routinely from all over the valley, in similar fashion with which the Ganges flows through Benaras. The attacks became brisk and so did the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. For months to come, only fear, tension and uncertainty shadowed the Pandits. Families from Shivranjini's villages: the Mattoos and the Razdans left their roots with lachrymose eyes. The Kaks were optimistic of Indian intervention into the issue, which never came. What came one night were men, clad in unusual uniforms and flagging Kalashnikovs like some toy purchased at Disneyland, crying,"Panditon!! Kashmir Chhodo"(Pandits!! Leave Kashmir) . They paraded All the Pandit families, took the elderly, tied their hands and hung them by the same Chinar tree beneath which the village Panchayat had presided for decades. Shivranjini's grandfather was one of the murdered. It was after losing their ma'tre de la famille that the Kak's decided it was time to pluck their roots. They choose to save their Janeu and the legacy of Sage Kashyapa. Next morning the grimacing Kaks rented a fiat and left the valley. She came to Jammu, only to find Pandits being detested as Refugees. She had never seen so many people at once. She saw faces: mourning the loss of their native homes and grieving of their loved ones who were claimed by the fanatics. In some eyes, she sensed relief and security. In some she saw optimism that in near future they would be restored to the valley. She observed people succumbing to despair and accepting what fate had slapped on them. Some planned to move to Delhi and settle whereas some wanted to stay in Jammu, in hopes of return. Shivranjini's father decided to go to Delhi, thus paying a requiem to his native land and shattering all her chances to romance her prince again. Shivranjini Kak came to Delhi with her family. They were given houses: houses which would make the shabbiest slums on earth feel sanguine. It was a small room, partitioned by cardboards into eight chambers, with a asbestos roof on top and a single lavatory to share. It was difficult to adjust. Kashmiris, who had enjoyed the heavenly climate of Kashmir and were largely unaccustomed to Delhi's summers, suffered sunstrokes and other health concerns. Water scarcity became rampant in those days and Pandits had to literally save water drop by drop. Hospitals were all far off and the government dispensary was perennially deserted. Amidst her new premises, Shivranjini saw many miscarriages and deaths, which could have been averted if Medical facility was up-to-date. For Kashmiri Pandits, it was hard to break the umbilical cord to Kashmir. Shivranjini Kak particularly wept the day she met Augustya Amar Katju and his wife, Radha. The Katjus were the Rockefellars of Pulwama and owned big businesses. Following the pogrom against Pandits, resulting trauma had made Augustya Katju insane. His beautiful wife Radha, who once owned the costliest of Kanjivaram and Banarasi saris, had been left with two pairs of ordinary saris. She saw three generations living in a congested, small room, where the any amatory behavior is involuntarily restricted. At times, the elderly would sleep out under the sky so that their children could have some amorous interaction. NGOs blame this denial of sexual life for the dwindling of Kashmiri Pandit population. Shivranjini heard tales of escapes, which in most cases, had been facilitated by amicable Muslim neighbors. She also met Yosef and Eli, the two surviving members of the minuscule, relatively unknown Kashmiri Jewry. But of all what pinched her the most was separation from her beloved. The saffron available in Delhi was "Paper" Saffron,which is manufactured in factories of Amritsar. At times, real Saffron would make its way to the refugee camps through Kashmiri shawl-wallahs and traders, who like the Pandits, lamented the misfortune of Kashmiriyat. But then like Shivranjini herself, her lover coudn't stand a non-Kashmiri climate. Saffron loses its traits as climate gets hotter. To Shivranjini this Saffron was a charmless stranger. She knew she could meet her beloved and love him only in the valley of Kashmir. She refused to admit that her affair had come to cul-de-sac. Before her sleep she would contemplate what had gone wrong. Religion had never been pivotal in Kashmir. It was Kashmiriyat which governed the valley. It was in Kashmir that Hindus,Muslims and Sikh sat side by side and enjoyed to the melodies of Santoor. It was in Kashmir that the Brahmins, unlike theirvegetarian contemporaries in rest of India, ate and cooked ghosht(mutton) and murgh(chicken). She knew Muslim men in her village who would pay devotion to Lord Shiva and celebrate Diwali. Her grandfather had been more proficient in Urdu than in Sanskrit and carried an attire similar to his Muslim Friends. It was in Kashmir that Jesus, or as they called him in Kashmir Yuz Asaf had come and laid in peace at Roza Bal.It was here that Prophet Muhammad's hair was enshrined and it was in Kashmir that Lord Shiva would appear in caves of AmarNath. Kashmir: Home to Gods and Prophets. the Paradise on earth!! What could possibly be the cause of its doom? After many years in camps, Shivranjini managed to get a Bachelor of Arts. She travels to Jantar Mantar every year to join in the demonstrations by Pandits. She sees different banners and Posters-"50,000 LANGUISHING, 60000 DEATHS, 7 LAKH DISPLACED, 1500 TEMPLES, BARAMULA:100 TEMPLES IN 1990, NONE TODAY. IS THIS SECULARISM, 200 VILLAGES RENAMED TO ISLAMIC NAMES, WAKE UP!!, KASHMIRI PANDITS REFUGES IN THEIR OWN INDIA". She acknowledges the sterility of such protests. These protests find places in 7th or 8th page of the newspapers, catch the attention of people for a minute and dissipate away. At times, they may implore one or two undergraduates to write up essays and blogs. None of this has been triumphant in waking the Government of India from its Kumbhakarna sleep. The government kept silent when the orgy of violence had thundered the Kashmiri Pandits. Shivranjini abhors intellectuals and secularists and Human Rights people, for they all had been quiet when the Pandits were ousted from their own origins. They had all been a party to the crime : they all were no different from the agent provocateurs. She is aware that the sole reason why no political party chooses to champion their rights is the fact that Kashmir Pandits comprise a very low population which would not be of significant contribution in their political quest. Plus, no one wants a financially disabled community in their political entourage. America, in 2006, acknowledged the barbarian acts of slaughter of Pandits as ethnic cleansing. Our own government is yet to do the honors. Shivranjini believes in Bush Sr.'s opinion of constitution being a "Just a Goddamned Piece of Paper". Unless Kashmiri Pandits are restored to their roots, calling India secular and democratic will be a sham eulogy. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" spoke Edmund Burke. The genuineness of the quote is incontestable. Much damage has already taken place. Indian Government must act before the fanatics and Separatists deliver their coup de grace to Indian sovereignty. Shivranjini strikes cords easily victims of Sikhs riots and Gujarat riots, who like her, have been demanding justice. She wants to tell them that their attempts will be fruitless. She however, chooses silence for she knows the alchemy of hope. It was hope that kept her family struggling through the ordeal, it is the same hope that gathers thousands of Kashmiri Pandits every year at Jantar Mantar and it is the same hope she possesses to one day unite with her Lover in the valley of Kashmir. Shivranjini, like her lover, is fictitious. So are the other characters in the document. However, Shivranjini Kak is a stereotype that every affected Kashmiri Pandit family can swiftly empathize with. As 19th January 2010 marks the twentieth anniversary of their adversity,Mine is just an attempt to remind people of the cause, for many in India are still unaware of the cause of Kashmiri Pandits. One of the biggest abuses of human rights, Kashmiri Pandits have lacked much of representation over the last two decades. The government of India has failed pathetically at resolving the issue. In the spirit of Humanity and Righteousness, Let us all bolster the voice of Kashmiri Pandits. In solidarity with the cause of Kashmiri Pandits Shrey Vats |
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