Dr. M.L.BHAT - The Odyssey Of Kashmiri Pandits : Destination-Homeland-Panun Kashmir

Notion Press

Old No. 38, New No. 6
McNichols Road, Chetpet
Chennai - 600 031

First Published by Notion Press 2017
Copyright Dr. M. L. Bhat 2017
All Rights Reserved.

eISBN 978-1-947586-25-3

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To my Grandchildren

ISHAN, NITYA, and PRANIT

Kheer Bhawani Temple at Tulmulla, Kashmir

Historical Chinar (charred) at Shiv Temple with Shiv Ling missing in Village Buran (Pattan).

Were Hounded out from our this Sweet Home at Buran (Pattan)

Owners gazing as Aliens

I am a part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch where thro,

Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

For ever and for ever when I move.

Tennyson

PREFACE

T he Odyssey of Kashmiri Pandits is a first person narration of a horrible tale of the sequence of cruelties and barbarism perpetrated on the original inhabitants of the Kashmir Valley, culminating in their mass exodus in 198990.

This short story is an account of my personal experience and eye witness description of the hardships suffered by our community at the hands of the terrorists, the willing perpetrators, and the government of the day.

The story begins with an account of 2000 years of the wandering of Jews, which in many ways resembles the six centuries old pathetic story of the Kashmiri Pandits.

A historical account of the barbarism inflicted on the Kashmiri Pandits from centuries past is outlined. The reasons behind the present mass exodus have been described. The plight of the members of this community ever since the migration has been highlighted.

My sincere thanks are due to my wife Champa for her unflinching patience. My son Nitin deserves special thanks for gifting me the Laptop to write this story. I am highly thankful to my daughter Dr. Nirupama and my son-in-law Dr. Alok in reading out the print-outs for me. My special thanks are due to my daughter-in-law Pramila for going through the book, and lending her precious time in assisting me while compiling this book.

Dr. M. L. BHAT

May 09, 2017

Jammu Address:

Flat No. 1007/C, 6 th Floor, Royal

Nest II, Sector-3, Ext. Trikuta

Nagar, Jammu (J&K), 180020.

Singapore Address:

6-Peach Garden, 0706,

Singapore-437606.

e-mail:

1

T HE STORY OF KASHMIRI PANDITS is one of the horrible stories of the world history. The general, social and psychological milieu in which they lived in their ancestral land of the world-famous Valley of Kashmir is very crucial for understanding of the genocidal actions of the perpetrators. Once the original inhabitants of Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits have now been plundered, humiliated, massacred, decimated, annihilated as soft preys. Their community has lost the identity, being neglected by the brethren of the majority community, and those at the helm, alike. The feeling of a Kashmiri Pandit is best expressed in the famous lines of Tennyson:

Nature is one with rapine,

A harm, no preacher can heal;

The Mayfly is torn by the swallow

The sparrow speared by the shrike,

And the whole little wood where

I sit is a world of plunder and prey.

The atrocities perpetrated on the Kashmiri Pandits, reminds one of the odyssey of Jews.

The story of the Jews is one of the epics of European history. The history tells us that Jews were driven from their natural home and scattered by flight and trade among all the nations and to all the continents; persecuted and decimated by the adherents of the great religionsChristianity and Mohammedanism. They were mobbed by the people and robbed by the kings; outcast and excommunicated, insulted and injured; without any political structure, without any legal compulsion to social unity, without even a common language, this wonderful people has maintained itself in body and soul, has preserved its racial and cultural integrity, has guarded with jealous love its oldest rituals and traditions, has patiently and resolutely awaited the day of its deliverance, and has emerged greater in number than ever before, renowned in every field for the contributions of its geniuses, and triumphantly restored, after two thousand years of wandering, to its ancient and unforgotten home. What drama could rival the grandeur of these sufferings, the variety of these scenes, and the glory and justice of this fulfillment? What fiction could match the romance of this reality?