India's
planned resettlement of Hindus in Kashmir Valley won't be smooth
His
two-room apartment in a run-down township is a far cry from Chand Pandita's
hometown of Anantnag, 150 miles away, in the disputed territory of Kashmir,
where pristine agricultural fields spread to the horizon.
"Not
a day goes by when we do not miss our home," said Pandita, sitting in his
two-room apartment in Jagdi Township, a poorly maintained Indian government-run
housing complex with about 4,200 apartments for Hindus who fled Kashmir 25
years ago after deadly attacks by radical Islamists. Several men around him
nodded in agreement.
Now
Indian officials have offered a plan to allow Pandita and tens of thousands of
Kashmiri Hindus, known as Pandits, to return to their homeland. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's conservative government, which has close ties to Hindu
nationalist groups and has championed the Pandits' cause, has proposed
resettling them in dedicated townships in the portion of Kashmir that India
controls, which Indians refer to as the valley.
Most
of the estimated 60,000 Pandit families that fled their homes have sold their
property in the valley, which is predominantly Muslim and, although under
Indian control, claimed in its entirety by India and rival Pakistan. Despite
the Indian government proposal, many are not prepared to return to the area,
which is beset by insecurity and unemployment.
"Kashmiri
Muslims are terrorists," said Pandita, who was 26 when he fled the valley
with his family. "They killed and terrorized our brethren, drove us out of
our homes, captured our lands and are now roaming freely."
The
exodus of Pandits was one of the bloodiest chapters of the decades-long battle
over the ruggedly beautiful Kashmir Valley. An Islamist uprising against Indian
control in the late 1980s put the Hindu minority under siege, and one night in
January 1990, with extremist Muslim leaders egging them on, militants killed
more than 700 Pandits, destroyed countless homes and accelerated the flight of
Hindus.
Most
Pandits now live in government-built townships in Jammu, the most populous
district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, and were given jobs and
other benefits. The perceived special treatment rankles Kashmir's Muslim
majority and has aggravated the deep resentment between the groups.
"How
many riots have transpired in India and how many of the persecuted have got as
much as the Pandits have?" said Parvez Imroz, a human rights lawyer based
in Srinagar, the state's capital. He compared the prospect of Pandit-only
townships to Israeli settlements on land claimed by Palestinians.
The
chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said the state would "acquire and
provide land at the earliest for composite townships in the valley." The
three townships are expected to be built on agricultural land, but no date has
been set to start construction.
After
India and Pakistan were partitioned at independence in 1947, Pakistani raiders
captured a part of the border territory of Kashmir but the majority remained in
Indian hands. The India-administered Kashmir Valley comprises eight districts,
including Anantnag, which is about 30 miles southeast of Srinagar.
Although
a minority in India-held Kashmir, Pandits for decades were as much a part of
the area's flowering culture as Muslims. The communities mingled with one
another. But now the trust deficit is greater than ever, said Imroz, who
believes the Pandits are "allowing themselves to be used" by radical
Hindu groups who have seized on the resettlement issue for their own political
gain.
- The
unrepentant and unapologetic behavior of the KAshmiri Muslims is self
evident. After massacring their neighbors and driving them out due to
their Islamic fanaticism - they now begrudge them the little govt support
they receive and are vehemently against any attempt to guarantee that
these...
IAF101
AT 12:47 AM AUGUST 03, 2015
The
All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella organization of political and
Islamic religious groups that advocate for Kashmir to secede from India,
accused Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of "dividing Kashmir
on religious lines."
BJP
leaders counter that bringing the Pandits back will help heal division between
Hindus and Muslims. Hina Bhat, a BJP politician from Srinagar, said the
government's plan calls for schools and hospitals to be established alongside
the new townships that would be run by Muslims as well as Hindus.
"The
trust deficit will go once they come back and live shoulder to shoulder,"
Bhat said. "They will start attending each other's functions. They will
start interacting with each other like the old days."
Shujaat
Bukhari, editor of the Rising Kashmir, an independent newspaper, says the
resettlement of Pandits must be part of a broader political plan to improve
India-Pakistan ties. But a little more than a year after Modi raised hope of a
rapprochement with Pakistan by inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his
inauguration in New Delhi, there has been scant progress on the many political
and economic issues dividing the nuclear-armed neighbors.
"Nobody
is against the idea of bringing [Pandits] back. But it has to be part of a
holistic package," Bukhari said. "We need to create an atmosphere of
peace and normality here before we think of re-assimilating Pandits. And that
can only happen if the government engages with Pakistan and the discontented
separatist groups. At the moment, there is a total deadlock."
Many
Muslims in the valley don't consider themselves part of India. A common
question locals ask of Indian visitors is, "Where in India do you
live?" as if it is a foreign country.
Ashoke
Pandit, a filmmaker, said Pandits should have a separate homeland because
reintegration is beyond consideration.
"No
government has ever asked us what we want," Pandit said. "How do we
trust them [Muslims] after what happened in the valley 25 years ago?"
A
new generation of Pandits has grown up with no ties to the valley and expresses
little desire to go there. The region is facing an unemployment crisis and
lacks reputable colleges and universities such as those in New Delhi, Mumbai or
other major Indian cities.
Thousands
of educated young people languish without jobs or settle for work in the main
industry, tourism.
"I
have been living here since birth. This is my home," said Pandita's
17-year-old daughter, Payal. She is awaiting exam results that will decide
where she will attend university.
"Once
my results are out, I will go to Mumbai or Gujarat [state] for further
education," she said. "What am I going to do in Kashmir?"
The
Peoples Democratic Party, which rules Jammu and Kashmir in a coalition with the
BJP, says it is "committed" to reintegrating the Pandits, and party
spokesman Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra says all issues will be "worked
out."
But
Bukhari, the editor, says the government plan would ghettoize Hindus and
further divide the communities.
"If
you want to give summer houses to Pandits who are now well settled outside
Kashmir, then it is fine. But do not call it integration," he said.
"With townships, Pandits will merely return to Kashmir. Not to their
homes."
Parth
M.N. is special correspondent
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