Kashmiri Pandits hope for Ache Din now that Modi is in power :- For young Neelam, it was a day of big disappointment. She had come to Kashmir to participate in Mela Kheer Bhawani at the famous temple of temple of Ragnya Devi at Tulmulla in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. “I had a question for the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah,” says Neelam, amid gentle smile. “I wanted to ask him is it possible for us to return to our homeland. I wanted to live in my parents’ house about which I have always heard only. I have seen my real home in pictures only. My parents told me, that they had a house in Delina, Barmulla.” Studying in Class 9th, Neelam seemed annoyed that Chief Minister won’t come. “This is not fair,” she says. Neelam says now that the Prime Minister Narendera Modi has taken the charge of new regime, KPs were hopeful some concrete steps would be taken for their safe return. “Hope good days will come of we people too”. Like Neelam, many elderly Pandits too seemed annoyed. “We feel orphaned. Last time, many politicians like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister and others came and greeted us here. Today, we have seen only Governor N N Vohra so far,” says Hadainath Bhat, who deserted Kashmir in early 1990. Bhat was living in Chinkral Mohalla of Habba Kadal in old city. “We have gone through hell over the past 23 years,” he says. “My wife suffered a brain stroke due to migration and died in 1992. I lost my job as well. I had to live for my two daughters and a lone son, who are settled in Bangalore. Bhat had come along with his family including his grand children, who could be seen talking in Hindi or fluent English.”They can’t speak Kashmiri and you know the reasons. They have lost their roots and identity,” he says. A group of young women, probably in their mid-20’s, sitting under the shades of mighty Chinars, in the premises of the temple were aghast about the JK government. “We have seen governments in Mumbai and other parts of India. Here, all are thieves. We had heard from our parents that Chief Minister was working out some plan for young displaced KPs which could also facilitate their return, but nothing has happened,” says Bimla, while her friends seconded her. She says if they return, where they would go. “We don’t know what has happened to our houses in Kulgam. Somebody told us, our homes have been dismantled by some brokers and land has been sold,” says Bimla. She says a good package if worked out by the new government at the New Delhi can act as a big relief for them. Ravi Dhar, a young engineer, was born just one year after his family deserted Kashmir in September 1990. “Kashmir has been damaged to a great extent by the violence. I don’t think this land is a heaven any more. Everybody here has a bruised psyche bet that a Muslim or a Pandit,” he says. Dhar wants to set up an IT company in Kashmir. “This is my father’s dream. I had a proposal with me. I wanted to hand it over to Chief Minister with a request to go through. Though I could mail him as well. But it is good to talk face to face, no matter even it is for a few seconds,” he says. “I feel annoyed as he didn’t turn up. I hope day would come soon, when Kashmir would witness a boom in IT sector and nobody would remain unemployed.” Many Muslims of the area could be spotted among the KPs, a sign of communal harmony. The Chief Minister, however, preferred to clarify as to why he couldn’t make to the Mela Kheer Bhawani. “I regret that the presence of and meetings with the 14th Finance Commission has meant I havent been able to visit Tulmullah today (Sic),” Omar tweeted. He further wrote: I look forward to working with the new government as they unveil their plans for the honourable return of the displaced Pandit community Pertinently, the devotees, who attend the annual festival of Kheer Bhawani, believe the colour of the spring water flowing beneath the temple hints at the situation in Kashmir. While most of the colours do not have any particular significance, black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be an indication of inauspicious times for Kashmir. Some people claim to have observed a murky tinge to the water just before the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the eruption of militancy in 1989 in Kashmir. Amid thick smoke of incense sticks and diyas (earthen lamps) flowing with the breeze, a group of Kashmiri Pandit women, unmindful of the issues they are facing, were however, busy singing traditional religious hymns to mark the annual festival. Mata Kalyani, who runs a charitable trust and is known for offering food to devotees for years now, says the water, is clear this time around. “The year ahead would be peaceful,” she says.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 05:17:39 +0000
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