Separatists, Pandits meet to break ice

It was a mélange of two estranged communities. For the first time, Kashmiri separatists and Pandits who did not migrate from the Valley came together to build bridges. The occasion was an exhibition organised by the Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) to showcase the destruction and desecration of temples in the Valley.

What transpired was a first in the Valley. JKLF chairman Yasin Malik, Ayaz Akbar of the hardline Hurriyat Conference and Syed Saleem Geelani of the Hurriyat’s Mirwaiz faction raised the Kashmiri Pandits’ morale.

There was stoic silence when KPSS chief Sanjay Tickoo began his speech. “When the cousin of Farooq Dar was killed, several Muslims were watching him die. Nobody offered him a glass of water. I was the one who mustered courage to do so. We have also suffered like any other Muslim, because we stayed on in Kashmir,” Tickoo said.

JKLF chairman Yasin Malik described Pandits as an inseparable part of Kashmir. “There is a fear factor with every minority community. This fear was exploited by former governor Jagmohan, leading to the migration of Kashmiri Pandits,” he said.

Tickoo regretted that the majority community suspects them. “During the Amarnath stir, our houses were stoned,” he said. Malik said, “It is our responsibility to protect them.”
Tickoo stunned everybody when he said, “We were more than 19,000 once. Today our numbers have dwindled to 3,000. Our religious places are in ruins but the government cares two hoots”.

Malik said Muslims want the Pandits back in their homes. Once the Pandits return, the temples that lie in tatters would also come to life, he said. Malik also called upon non-migrant Pandits to raise their voice against vested interests. “There are two classes of Pandit migrants, one living in difficult conditions in camps in Jammu and another living in five-star culture in Delhi and Mumbai. This elite class wants Narendra Modi to become PM. They want to keep the pot boiling and are hell-bent against the return of migrants.”